Proposals released for Lake Tahoe's largest restoration project

The California Tahoe Conservancy has released a draft plan for a proposed restoration of Lake Tahoe's largest remaining wetland, the Upper Truckee Marsh.

The restoration project would be the largest ever in the Lake Tahoe Basin, according to CTC Executive Director Patrick Wright. The nearly 600-acre marsh is located just west of the Tahoe Keys and should act as the last defense against the thousands of tons of clarity-reducing fine sediment entering the lake every year, according to the agency.

“Beginning in the late 1950s, portions of the Upper Truckee River through the marsh were straightened and channelized to facilitate construction of the adjacent Tahoe Keys development,” according to a statement from the CTC. “A primary goal of the draft plan is to reconnect the river with the marsh, and to restore the natural processes that filter fine sediment and other pollutants before they enter Lake Tahoe.”

Five alternatives are included in the plan. A preferred alternative has not been selected and ...

http://www.tahoebonanza.com/article/20130225/NEWS/130229978/