If you live in Truckee/Tahoe and you care about that beautiful body of water we affectionately call Big Blue, you need to see the film ‘Lake Tahoe In Depth.’
‘Avatar’ fans, you’re in luck — the segment is in 3-D and takes viewers on a flight through the bizarre and incredible world of the Tahoe Basin, both above and below the lake’s famously clear waters.
‘It’s a view that you couldn’t see any other way,’ said Steve McQuinn, the film’s computer graphics artist.
An educational film produced by the U.C. Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC), ‘Lake Tahoe In Depth’ reveals the fault lines running under the lake, the glacial and volcanic features that created the bowl-like basin, underwater cliffs that dive down hundreds of feet, and ancient forests. It also features a simulation of the massive underwater landslide that occurred offshore of Tahoe City some 50,000 years ago. Like a splash in a bath creates reverberations on all sides of the tub, the landslide triggered a tsunami followed by other powerful and destructive waves that crashed into the shoreline and essentially destroyed all lakeside life in 20 minutes flat.
Some six months was spent developing the film’s script, which packs a solid dose of information into 15 minutes. The film’s producers at TERC, in collaboration with representatives from the California Geological Survey, the UNR/Nevada Seismological Lab, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and the U.C. Davis W.M. Keck Center for Active Visualization in Earth Sciences, among other volunteers and organizations, wanted to make sure that they conveyed a consistent message to viewers about the research, science, and discoveries made at Lake Tahoe.
Visitors can see the film, which premiered at the end of May, at TERC, located on the Sierra Nevada College campus in Incline Village. While you’re at the facility, a LEED-platinum building, take advantage of the other learning resources that TERC offers. While scientists work in the upper floors of the building, conducting research that will inform other agencies about the lake’s clarity, biology, physics, and chemistry, visitors can take a tour of the Thomas J. Long Foundation Education Center that tells the story behind the science at Lake Tahoe and the ongoing efforts to preserve the lake’s clarity and fight nonnative invasions.
TERC's campus sees about 10,000 people annually come through its doors, about 65 percent of whom are visitors from outside the region.
'We’d like to see a lot more of our residents coming [to check out TERC],' said Heather Segale, director of education and outreach. 'They can learn about best management practices, defensible space, the research that's happening — all that good stuff.'
Using tools such as the white Secchi disk, which is lowered into the water until it's no longer visible, as well as other instruments, scientists have been monitoring and regulating the lake on a regular basis since 1968. The group's research extends far beyond the lake's clarity and has influenced the decisions of policy makers at Lake Tahoe, time and time again. After finding that treated sewage effluent would literally turn the lake green, Tahoe Research Center founder Dr. Charles
Goldman convinced agency leaders to build infrastructure that would remove sewage from the Basin before treating it. TERC's set of data about lake clarity also swayed U.S. Congress to pass the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, a move that has since brought millions of dollars into the Basin for restoration projects. Today, TERC is collaborating with other agencies including the Desert Research Institute and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to determine the most effective best management practices, as well as treatments for invasive species.
Aided by videos, Segale and her team of AmeriCorps volunteers and docents guide visitors through other exhibits, including a scaled model of the John Le Conte research vessel and a virtual lab, which yield information about scientific research methods, the lake's delicate food web, and the impact nonnative species have had. View zooplankton through a microscope and learn why the native Lahontan cutthroat trout is all but extinct today, out-competed by the introduced and aggressive lake trout.
In an uphill battle against the loss of lake clarity, invasive species, and climate change, Segale is on the front lines of defense educating the public about the lake's fragile environment. Guests who walk in with an open mind will hopefully walk out the door empowered with knowledge about, and a sense of stewardship for, Lake Tahoe and its watershed.
'This whole Tahoe Basin probably should have been a big national park,' Segale said. 'We’re pretty lucky that we get to live here. And so we have to take on that special responsibility.'
Info: The U.C. Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center is open for tours Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m., free admission, 291 Country Club Dr., Incline Village, tercinfo@ucdavis.edu, (775) 881-7566, terc.ucdavis.edu. Comment on this story online, visit moonshineink.com.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
A Few Facts From "Lake Tahoe In Depth"
• The land portion of the Lake Tahoe's watershed is only slightly bigger than the lake itself. And that is one of the reasons why the lake is so naturally clear.
• There are three faults that run through Lake Tahoe: the West Tahoe Fault, Stateline Fault, and Incline Village Fault. The West Tahoe Fault saw its last major earthquake, a magnitude 7, about 4,000 years ago. Geologists say it's due for another earthquake.
• The east side of the lake receives half the amount of precipitation that falls on the west side, due to the rain shadow effect.
• The natural caves in Cave Rock were cut by wave action about 60,000 years ago when the lake level was much higher. Similar caves can be found in Eagle Rock on the West Shore.
• Urbanized land makes up only 11 percent of the Basin but contributes nearly three-quarters of the fine particle pollution.
• Angora Ridge was formed by glaciers. After the glaciers retreated, moraines were left behind. The size of the Angora Ridge moraine indicates the height of the glaciers that formed it
• The tallest cliff along the West Tahoe Fault is located at D.L. Bliss State Park.
'
