Lake Tahoe Summit: 25 Years of Preserving Lake Tahoe for Future Generations

The lake’s famous clarity and fragile ecosystems were severely degraded by urbanization. Complicated jurisdictional boundaries throughout the region added an extra challenge to restoration goals. 

In the late 1990s, clarity was declining, urban centers were decaying, and neglected forests posed a profound fire threat. California Senator Dianne Feinstein called it a time of “environmental emergency.” 

On June 24, 1996, U.S. Senator Harry Reid wrote President Clinton “to request that you convene a federal conference to consider the serious challenges that face Lake Tahoe, to bring the crisis confronting the lake and surrounding basin to the nation’s attention.” Clinton agreed.

Nevada Senator Harry Reid remarked, “The clarity was disappearing…I said we need a presidential summit.”  That idea sparked the first Lake Tahoe Summit in 1997. President Clinton said to Reid, “…thanks to the person who thought this idea up and got my commitment months ago.” 

“One of the reasons that I wanted to come here was to show the nation that there is a place where environmentalists and business people and ordinary citizens…[are] working together in common cause,” Clinton said before signing the “Presidential Deliverables" executive order. 

Senator Feinstein’s commitment to Lake Tahoe goes back to her youth as a camper at Camp Talawanda. After the first Summit, she united public and private sectors to save Lake Tahoe. In 2000, she cosponsored the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, a 10-year, $900 million cleanup effort.

In 2016, Senator Feinstein worked with Senators Dean Heller, Harry Reid, and Barbara Boxer to extend the Act another 10 years, authorizing an additional $415 million to combat invasive species, improve water clarity, reduce the threat of wildfires, and restore the environment.

The Environmental Improvement Program (EIP) has implemented hundreds of projects to improve Lake Tahoe’s water quality, make forests healthier, clean the air, and enhance all aspects of the environment and local communities. 

Work is being done to treat stormwater runoff and restore natural filters like meadows and wetlands, providing  wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Thanks to the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, partners are working to prevent and control the spread of aquatic invasive species.

The threat of catastrophic wildfire looms over Lake Tahoe with many neighboring communities suffering from destructive blazes. The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team (TFFT) leads public education campaigns to teach residents how to prevent as well as prepare for wildfire.  

The goal of Lake Tahoe’s sustainable transportation program is to improve air quality and outdoor experiences for visitors and residents while protecting natural resources, increase the use of alternative modes of transportation, and decrease reliance on private automobiles.

Lake Tahoe faces an uncertain future with the effects of climate change. Investing in science and research to understand changing lake dynamics and the basin’s ecosystem response to extreme weather events is critical to inform today’s management decisions.  

Cultivating environmental stewards is imperative to caring for and improving Lake Tahoe. Today, EIP partners strive to speak with one voice, engage the community in citizen-science and collaborative decision making, and provide full transparency on how EIP investments are made.

The bi-state compact charges TRPA with establishing a regional plan for the Tahoe Basin with the mandate to achieve environmental standards, called thresholds. The TRPA continues to protect and restore Lake Tahoe’s environment while revitalizing and enhancing local communities.