River restoration to displace recreationists
By Kathryn Reed
A popular recreation area is about to be off-limits while the U.S. Forest Service works on rerouting the Upper Truckee River.
Sections of much of the river are being restored as land managers have the resources to do so. The end result is to make this body of water flow like it did before ranchers, loggers and others changed the natural meander.
The goal for each reach and for the entire river is that meadows will again thrive by having the water from the river flood the banks on a regular basis, thus increasing the groundwater table, providing better habit, improving the entire watershed, and particular to the reach — revegetating about 5.6 acres of floodplain and restoring 120 acres of floodplain. Ultimately, it will also mean less sediment reaching Lake Tahoe.
Forest Service personnel on Thursday night spoke about what people can expect during the four-year project on this stretch of land that is near Lake Tahoe Airport and goes into the meadow by Elks Club Road.
Restoring this section of the Upper Truckee River will begin in mid-June. Photo/LTN file
For the most part, the river will be moved farther away from the runway.
The area will be closed for safety reasons beginning June 15 and lasting until Oct. 15. Signs will be posted.
Popular biking and hiking trails nearest the river will not be accessible. A trail on the far side of the meadow will remain open.
When the project is complete, some of the user-created trails are likely to disappear because a river will occupy them or the meadow will be so wet that the trails will naturally disappear.
The Forest Service does not intend to decommission any trails. A route must be maintained because South Tahoe Public Utility District has a line in the area. It will be relocated next year.
The river will remain accessible, however there will be an area where kayakers and other boaters will have to portage because a temporary bridge will be built that they will not be able to go under. The bridge, which will be about 5,000 feet below the Elks Club bridge, will be one of the first things to be built this season. It will provide access from the Sunset Stables staging area to the meadow.
“The channel will be smaller, but the flow for rafts and kayaks will be greater,” Theresa Cody, USFS project manager and hydrologist, said of what the experience will be like when the work is completed.
For a few days fishing could be impacted as block nets are in place.
A little more than half of the 7,340 feet of new river channel will be built this season, with the remainder to be done in 2014.
While the California Tahoe Conservancy also owns part of this section of river, the Forest Service is the lead agency, and the one paying for and doing the work. How the properties connect would not allow for the project to be separated.
The actual work is costing the Forest Service $4.5 million. This money came from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act.
Tree removal for the project is necessary. The plan is to use that wood for structures in the river. (The USFS and CTC also have fuel reduction projects scheduled that are not related to the river project.)
Cody said the Forest Service has gone to great lengths to make sure those structures look natural – having learned from work done on other sections of the river.
“Most of the woody material is intended to be below the low water line,” she said at the May 30 meeting.
In 2015, there will be a break in construction. This will be the summer of irrigation and making sure the vegetation has taken hold.
In 2016, the channel tie-ins will be constructed if the vegetation is intact. This will likely result in more temporary area closures.
When it’s all done, access will be as it is today – just with a “new” river and not all the same trails.
Public tours of the area are planned for Aug. 2 and Oct. 25.
More information about the project is online.
A new river.? The river is beautiful the way it is now…
It’s great that the river is being restored. As the largest tributary to Tahoe the health of the Upper Truckee is critical and it’s been significantly altered and narrowed in the past.
Too bad the CTC couldn’t take advantage of this disruption to build a proper trail connecting Elks Club/Meyers to SLT/Sierra Tract area. This stretch along the river is among the most beautiful parts of the South Shore and accessible trails would increase sustainable visitation of this area.
Restore what? It’s in a wonderful place now and is a wildlife sanctuary. I don’t understand how this could possibly be improved beyond what currently exists there. Seems unnecessary to me…
The headline made the restoration sound like recreation is being displaced permanently. A bit alarming.
I’m happy to see the restoration moving forward.
Tahoe John, do a quick search on what healthy stream profiles look like in the West. Compare that to the picture above. The Upper Truckee has all of the function of a bad irrigation ditch and does not have a healthy riparian corridor that would actually provide wildlife benefits.
Irrigation ditch? It moves all over the meadow. Have you been out there? Its completely differant than what you describe. I typed in healthy stream profiles in the west in google and got no good examples. I also don’t see the problem in that photo the way you describe. I live in that area and can tell you there are plenty of places that have lots of vegetation and what I would say is a riparian corridor. Will moving the river stop the erosion? How do you create a riparian cooridor? doesnt that take a long time? Especially since trees are being cut. I typed that term in google and pictures showed vegetation between the river and agriculture and stuff. It already has that. There is nothing down there except an airport. thats not being moved is it? Some of that areas erosion is worse than other parts. It’s not all eroding. I’m confused on what can be made better. Its like one of the nicest areas there is in Tahoe. Its why i moved over there. Can someone send a link to what the new river looks like? The linked website has too much stuff to look at.
Tahoe John: Start by reading the River Continuum Concept. Then go on to something about depth to ground water in healthy meadows, and how it relates to cut banks, channelization and sinuosity.
Without that understanding pictures aren’t very useful.
It has a couple of seriously straight sections that need some serious reconfiguration. Especially the middle to the northern end of the airport. And Tahoe John, you have to have noticed many channels that seem to connect to nothing in just about all parts of the Upper Truckee’s lake-level drainage’s from Elk’s Club to Hwy 50, some holding water, some not.
Nice big healthy trees being taken out of Golden Bear, heavy equipment tearing the place up, the once tranquil woods behind Barbara and Lodi are being undone in the name of some thinning project. But logs are piling up just like at fallen leaf last summer. many 6′ diameter, healthy trees cut down. Plenty of small trees, dead standing could go, but these bigger ones didn’t need to be taken. The vibe there will be completely different from now on.
Dead standing trees are important for habitat.
To locate a good reference to river restoration try Googling “Fundamentals of Fluvial Geomorphology – DNRC” – a bit technical, but the images can help explain what they are trying to do.
Thanks Tuffy. Here is the link for anyone interested: http://www.dnrc.mt.gov/wrd/water_op/floodplain/streambank_course/fluvial_geomorphology1.pdf
You meant this for this article or the one on river restoration?
There is another study out there on Blackwood using HEC-RAS. They got lucky, had data before the recent flood event and after.
The real truth here is that hard surfaces around Lake Tahoe ie: roads, parking lots, driveways, sidewalks, contribute most of the disturbances and sediment that effect “lake clarity”. Reflooding meadows and slowing down streams will only invite more mosquito and rodent issues adding discomfort to residents and tourists. The real challenge at the lake is to work cooperatively with funds and resources for real solutions from all angles of government and the public.
I didn’t know the details about this project until reading this. One more of my regular walking places taken away (at least this year, and perhaps multiple years).
Agree with Dan above about the sad OVER-removal of healthy trees from everywhere. Sad.