LAKE TAHOE
Quick actions by boaters and paddlers this year helped prevent the dangerous golden mussel and other aquatic invasive species from entering the Lake Tahoe watershed, according to agencies leading the Lake Tahoe Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) program. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and Tahoe Resource Conservation District (Tahoe RCD), which manage the watercraft inspection program, reported that inspectors performed more than 4,700 decontaminations in 2025, a 60% increase compared to the previous year.
Inspectors attribute the dramatic jump in decontaminations to actions taken earlier this year to confront the threat of golden mussels, a new and highly invasive mollusk discovered in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta of California one year ago.
This season, trained watercraft inspectors intercepted 72 watercraft traveling to Tahoe with aquatic invasive species, 14 of which had invasive mussels onboard.
2025 by the numbers:
- 4,700 motorized vessels decontaminated
- 72 vessels intercepted with AIS on board
- 14 interceptions of invasive mussels
- 60% of boats arrived Clean, Drained, and Dry
~ Tahoe Regional Planning Agency press release
