Opinion: Lake clarity needs to be reported in real time

To the community,

On Sept. 30, Tahoe Pipe Club completed its final summer 2012 Lake Tahoe clarity measurement. During summer 2012 (June through September) the average clarity of Lake Tahoe was equal to 59.7 feet and represented an 8 foot improvement in summer clarity compared to the 2011 average as reported by the Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

Tahoe Pipe Club would like real time publication of all official clarity measurements. Real time publication will improve the public’s understanding of the fluctuations in lake clarity and help to improve our understanding of the processes which impact clarity.

Processes such as snowfall, snow melt, boating, rain, lake mixing and drought.

The current delay in releasing the official record and withholding monthly results deprives the public of gaining an understanding of how these processes can be better managed to improve clarity.

To learn more about Lake Tahoe and how we need to improve the management practices which are intended to save its clarity, go online.

Tahoe Pipe Club