State Hopes to Help Lake Tahoe by Buying Threatened Wetlands

State officials announced plans Friday to purchase and revive a broad swath of endangered wetlands and meadow--a move that could help in the fight to restore Lake Tahoe’s world-renowned clarity.

The California Tahoe Conservancy will spend $10 million to buy 311 acres at the mouth of the Upper Truckee River on the lake’s southern edge.

Authorities hope to restore the property along with an adjacent 200-acre parcel that the conservancy already owns.

The property, long slated for development, in recent years was home to a herd of cattle. The cattle will be displaced, but the land will remain home to bald eagles, osprey and other rare or endangered birds and plant life.

“This is real key, a prime opportunity to not only preserve what we have now but look at restoration,” said Dennis Machida, executive officer at the California Tahoe Conservancy, an independent state agency.

The Upper Truckee River slashes through the site, the result of intervention by bulldozers during the boom days of development in South Lake Tahoe. Along with nearby Trout Creek, the Upper Truckee funnels almost a third of the runoff that eventually reaches the lake from the snow-draped peaks rimming the Tahoe basin.

Officials plan to investigate whether they can restore the river’s original meandering path, slowing the waters and increasing the likelihood that silt and nutrients will settle out before entering the lake.

Those sediments contribute to the growth of algae that have reduced Lake Tahoe’s water clarity, which is declining at an average rate of about 1 foot per year.

“It’s a good day for Lake Tahoe,” said Heidi Hill Drum, a spokeswoman for the League to Save Lake Tahoe. “This absolutely should help clean up the lake.”