PRESS RELEASE
Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association members have voted to voluntarily fund continued work fighting aquatic invasive species in their lagoons, supporting one of the most important environmental projects in Lake Tahoe.
Votes were counted on April 22, with 588 ballots cast in favor, 286 against. The vote was for a special assessment of up to $1,600 per owner over the next three years that will fund a range of aquatic invasive species control work.
“We are pleased to have the support of our property owners in this critical fight for the health of the Tahoe Keys and the health of Lake Tahoe,” said John Larson, chair of the association’s Water Quality Committee. “Now it’s time to get to work.”
The work to be conducted over the next several years includes field demonstrations of alternative mechanical control methods such as rotovating, continued environmental monitoring including regular water quality and sediment sampling, and comprehensive research on the best control methods and integrated management practices for AIS. The TKPOA will also be demonstrating the effectiveness of select herbicides in the Keys Lagoons, pending regulatory approval, in 2018.
Aquatic invasive plants — primarily curleyleaf pondweed and Eurasian watermilfoil — were introduced to the Keys and other parts of Lake Tahoe, and have now spread over 90 percent of the 172-acre lagoons. Since 2011, the association has been working with experts, agencies, and stakeholders to find the best methods to control the invasive plants and prevent their spread throughout Lake Tahoe. The invasive plants are considered the most immediate threat to the lake, according to University of Nevada, Reno’s 2015 Implementation Plan for the Control of Aquatic Invasive Species within Lake Tahoe, and have been found in marinas and other shallow, warm water throughout Tahoe.
Earlier this year, the association applied to the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board and Tahoe Regional Planning for permits to conduct a small-scale demonstration (less than 14 acres) using herbicides that would be followed up with other non-herbicide control methods, such as improved harvesting and fragment collection, diver-assisted hand-pulling, bottom barrier mats, and other methods.
The 2018 herbicide demonstration would be conducted in backwater portions of the lagoons behind an impermeable barrier, ensuring no movement of water into Lake Tahoe. The proposed herbicides are Endothall, Triclopyr and Penoxsulam, all of which are approved by the Federal and California Environmental Protection Agencies as nontoxic to humans, fish, and wildlife when applied at proper concentrations by licensed applicators.
To find out more about the extensive efforts the Tahoe Keys has undertaken to combat aquatic invasive plants, go to keysweedsmanagement.org.
