CTC awards $2.2 million for erosion control projects in basin

By Kathryn Reed

Both ends of the lake will be having erosion control measures put in thanks to grants provided by the California Tahoe Conservancy.

At the CTC’s meeting this month the board unanimously agreed to spend up to $1.675 million on the second phase of the Al Tahoe Erosion Control Project in South Lake Tahoe and up to $620,715 on the Brockway Erosion Control Project in Placer County.

CTC started the Soil Erosion Control Grant Program in 1985. Money is allocated to local jurisdictions and public utility districts, with more $102 million awarded to date.

The first phase of the Al Tahoe erosion project won a TRPA award. Photo/LTN file

The South Tahoe project is expected to begin this fall. Right now runoff flows directly into the lake from this neighborhood.

“The project will stabilize and protect eroding roadway shoulders, increase infiltration, and convey stormwater runoff to an advance treatment filter prior to discharging into the lake,” the staff report says. “Project design utilizes road shoulder infiltration pads that allow for parking during the summer months while reducing stormwater flows to the lake.”

The first phase of this project won a Best in Basin award from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

Mostly likely porous concrete will be used in the second phase.

A unique aspect to the North Shore project is the area being addressed touches on Nevada.

CTC’s contribution is just part of what it will take to do the work. Other sources of funding include $1.478 million from the U.S. Forest Service, $436,956 in Tahoe Regional Planning Agency mitigation funds, and $79,800 from Nevada through its sales of Lake Tahoe license plats.

Another component of this project is the improvements to Boulder Bay, the development that will overhaul the Tahoe Biltmore in Crystal Bay.

CTC board member Angela Swanson questioned what happens if Boulder Bay ends up in litigation and is not able to move forward.

Staff explained part of the contingency for the TRPA to approve Boulder Bay was the owners had to put money into a bond account for the environmental improvements to be done even if the development is never built.

“This project is a high priority because it treats numerous sources of pollutants, including fine sediment particles that are efficiently transported to Lake Tahoe,” the staff report says. “Large expanses of heavily-utilized impervious surfaces produce significant volumes of stormwater runoff and pollutants. These impervious surfaces, combined with steep slopes and slow infiltration rates, exacerbate erosion and create a high degree of hydrologic connectivity to Lake Tahoe during storm events, which results in very efficient transport of pollutants to the lake.”

Work on the erosion project could begin this summer.