Disgusting urban storm pipes provide much of the pollution that is reducing water clarity. There are more than 100 hydrologically connected pipes that are still polluting Lake Tahoe, greatly damaging water clarity, and totally ignored not just in the RPU but by all governmental entities at the Lake. It is easier to collectively look away, ignoring the reality, than to fix the problem.
These pipes can be found all around the lake, east to west and north to south. They convey road runoff into Lake Tahoe every time it rains or snows. The runoff carries the fine sediment which is the primary cause of clarity loss.
The Upper Truckee Marsh was once the largest wetland in the Sierra Nevada Mountains but is now home to the greatest concentration of urban storm pipes in the Basin. More than 40 pipes dump toxic storm water just into the Tahoe Keys.
Infiltrating the runoff before it reaches these pipes is the only way to eliminate the fine sediment. It is easy and inexpensive to do; it must be mandated consistent with standard “best management practices” (BMPs) at the time of any construction but is, instead, ignored, to the delight of developers, as a problem.
The Tahoe Pipe Club (www.tahoepipeclub.com) is trying to educate the public about this travesty and we at FLT are trying to help. Have a look and visit their site for more information and videos.
Viewer Discretion Advised:
These Pipes are Viscerally Repulsive.
Their
website is loaded with videos.
Here are a couple:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxfebQDA3_8&NR=1&feature=endscreen