Letter: Public should have input into dredging
To the community,
It has come to my attention that the homeowners in the Tahoe Keys area are planning to have their manmade lagoons dredged as early as this week because the drought is causing the water level to inhibit boat access. This isn’t right. The Keys have been an environmental nightmare since their beginnings – the beautiful marsh land was raped by developers and the unnatural keys cause silt to spread into Tahoe every time they are dredged.
Leona Allen
In addition, everything that is spilled onto the land in the Keys washes into the lake – fertilizer, car and boat oil, detergents, paint, and chemicals of every kind. So now, at a time when Tahoe becomes more sensitive with the drought, the homeowners want to dredge. This is an action that will be a detriment to the entire lake, and will only benefit a few of the boat-owning Tahoe Keys residents.
If you disagree with this, please make yourself heard. Permitting agencies include TRPA, Lahontan, and possibly the city of South Lake Tahoe. Which brings up another point – has the public had the opportunity to comment on this? I certainly would have been the first in line had I known of open meetings.
Tahoe native,
Leona Allen, South Lake Tahoe
Leona you don’t get to shut down dredging just to hurt a business because you don’t like the Keys. Nobody would want them built today, but the Keys exist and those people have the right to the quite enjoyment of their property.
If you don’t like it then buy them out. It is that simple.
wow ! Leona you need to look a little further into the methodology that is used in dredging of access channels that provide safe entry to this unique and beautiful lake.
Having lived here for around 35 years or so and enjoyed this beautiful lake , and surrounding areas I too want the lake to be protected.
The Tahoe Keys housing and lagoons are not going away.If folks are not permitted to boat on and enjoy the lake , are we all supposed to simply drive around the perimeter in cars wishing we could be on the Lake ? I think not.
I really think we need an organization called The League To Enjoy Lake Tahoe.
It is this pristine body of water that supports our economy and generates massive amounts of money to help protect it.
If you look at dredging operations at the lake you will see very strict regulations being implemented. primarily restricting turbidity, or fine suspended particles from entering into the lake.
I have personally been involved in 2 different dredging projects at the east TKM channel, and both operations were very very clean , because of the suction dredges used.What amazed me at the time was that once the sand and clay was removed from the lake bottom it was considered hazardous waste and had to be hauled out of the basin or deposited at the local asphalt plant .
More recently the rules have been changed and the clean sand that is removed is permitted to be spread back onto the beach from where it originated.
Last year Meeks Bay and Ski Run were allowed to do this and it helped reduce the dredging costs which are extremely expensive.
looking forward to more comments on this topic.
captain Kiwi Steve.
The lake belongs to everyone. Lets have everyone in CA and NV vote on dredging.
I find it hard to believe that every agency in the western states wont be on site documenting the entire project.
Lets face it would you rather hang out in a wind swept cow field in 108 degree weather in Davis or play (I meant work) at Lake Tahoe?
We need details. How big of a mess does this create, and can the Keys keep it to themselves. Where does the dredged material go, etc. It would be nice if this work can be reduce weeds.
None of the interior lagoons are being dredged, that would be unquestionably cost prohibitive. To be dredged are only the two short entrance channels, west and east, where the sand has built up. It’s a safety issue.
Is there no end to Moral Hazard’s ignorance of the law?
“The Keys exist and those people have the right to the quite enjoyment of their property.”
MO, the Lake’s channels are not the “property” of the Tahoe Keys landowners, they are interstate navigable waters that are public property. There is simply no legal “right” for a homeowner to dredge the Lake in order to “enjoy” their private land. You really need to brush up on the Constitution.
Actual lawyer, that’s interesting, so easements aren’t property?
As far as dredging goes I’m lookin’ at it from port, starboard,bow and stern.
Yes, the marinas need to be dredged because of a shrinking lake level due to 4 years of drought. So people coming here from out of town with boats and locals with boats can get out onto the beautiful lake.
Now lets switch paddles on the old canoe.
Yes, boating,fishing, skiing on Lake Tahoe is great, but can the dredging be done without spreading more sediment into the lake without reducing the lakes clarity?
Lets hope the marinas are dredged and locals and guests from out of town get to ply the big blue lake . OLS
Actual Lawyer,
I may be wrong about this but I was told (as a Keys Homeowner) that my property line extends to the middle of the lagoon where it meets the lot line of my neighbor across the way. In theory, I believe we (the Homeowners) own the land under the water. The Tahoe Keys waterways are private property and the right to pass (on boats) is subject to revocation, and so it states upon the signage entering the Keys from the lake. If the mouth of the Keys were to be dammed up and the water pumped out (say, for excavation purposes in lieu of dredging, or invasive weed abatement-or both), all that land would still be privately held, and as such it would be incumbent upon the private landowners to pay for any such mitigative measures, not the State or Federal government.
A bit of education and you would understand the procedures put forth by the permitting agencies. There are five separate permits needed to dredge on Lake Tahoe. Within that permitting process the requirements are extremely stringent and being that the agencies that do the permitting are all required to protect the lake they are very diligent in the requirements. The keys has dredged several times over the years because certain winds will push sand into the channels. I too want Lake Tahoe to stay the beautiful pristine gem of the sierras for future generations! Check for yourself how the process works and I’m sure you will be satisfied. I can’t change anyone’s opinion of the Keys but they aren’t going anywhere. Happy Boating!
The property owners own the land under the channels and there is a navigation easement on each one. It is private property, but it is regulated in the same way as someone who has a watershed creek running through their property. The channel to the lake is common land owned by all of the Keys homeowners, and is regulated in the same way. Hence the requirement to get permits from multiple agencies, which they have done.
The dredging is limited to the channel between the Keys and the lake. They are installing turbidity curtains as required by the regulators to reduce the churned up sand and silt from going into the lake itself.
There is separate dredging planned for the channel between the Keys marina and the lake. There are limited places around the lake where boats can be launched, so if the Keys Marina channel is not dredged, the next best spot is probably Cave Rock, which if you’ve seen recent pictures looks awfully shallow as well. Summer traffic on weekends is bad enough — will be much worse with hundreds of boats being hauled through town.
I would suspect other launch spots around the lake are considering the same issue and are probably also planning to dredge.
Whatever you think of the history of the Keys, it isn’t going anywhere and generates a significant amount of yearly income to local businesses as well as taxes for the region. Regulators will extract their pound of flesh, but they aren’t going to deny dredging of a legally built channel to restore it to the level it was built to.
Miss Allen
You clearly have no clue what dredging means. “This is an action that will be a detriment to the entire lake, and will only benefit a few of the boat-owning Tahoe Keys residents.” Really.
Try to inform yourself before making this kind of an accusation. BTW, if the Marina doesn’t dredge the City could stand to lose out on significant tourism dollars.
Leona Allen,
Have you any solid data to back up your extremely inflammatory statement or are you just parroting nonsense others have spewed?
Let me guess, you are a Ph.D in hydrology, chemistry, physics, and limnology.
More likely you did graduate grammar school. Congratulations.
@Actual Lawyer and Richard….I’m wondering if, as Ralph Cramden states, the property owner owns the land under the water, would each separate parcel of property need to obtain all five permits(as Joby states) for dredging on their individual slice of paradise? And if the parcel adjacent, in the middle of the channel, were to refuse to do so…what then?
It’s true that people’s properties in the keys run to the centers of the channels. That’s how they manage to build houses that seem to take up entire lots. The coverage isn’t quite what it seems, because you don’t see a big chunk of the total lot. I questioned that once, and that’s the answer I got.
We of course have to protect our lake, be we must also protect our economy. Last year this town FREAKED OUT over the idea that the fireworks could be cancelled. And rightfully so, that would be devastating to our economy. So let me be the first to point out that the barge used for the fireworks is in the Tahoe Keys Marina. If it can’t get out, no fireworks show. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to economic damage caused by the Keys being inaccessible by water. So dredge, do it as safely as possible, but please do it.
Thank you for your letter Leona. It would be nice if the agencies would first look at the impacts of dredging before allowing so much around the Lake, including in the Keys. With drought, low lake levels, an ever-messier nearshore, changes in the Lake’s movements and chemistry, aquatic invasives, and more big resort developments in the queue, we are destroying this lake. As for who has a right to what, how many residents and visitors enjoy Tahoe from means other than boats? (Millions). What would be worse economically – shorelines so bad no one wants to come to them, or less boat activity? As for agency oversight – that’s a thing of the past.
Actual lawyer,
I believe if you check the assessor’s parcel maps you will find the homeowners property does extend to the middle of the channel. Some channels on the east side are owned by the TKPOA.
Therefore you can’t park your boat on the water if it is over private property but you can navigate over it.
I find it particularly of note that someone who has fed at the taxpayer’s trough for a long time would see no problem in depriving an entire community of their property simply because of personal whim. The implied privilege is astounding. Many of us dislike what the Keys has done, but no one there did it (with minor exceptions). To even think of using a natural disaster to further your personal agenda is about as arrogant as possible. Absent the vagaries of the law, the reality is that we want to use the Lake and those who have traditionally and historically owned the property have some rights and responsibilities to continue their use of the Lake. I don’t imagine that you would appreciate anyone deciding arbitrarily that wherever your house is should be turned into a nature preserve despite your purchase of said property. Relax, Leona.
I learn something everyday I read LTN. Dredge it and do it right so that we can get on with more important item herin SLT.
@Hmmm, the channels under each individual property owner’s property are not being dredged. It’s only the main channel leading to the lake, which is common land owned by the Keys property owner association. So its the HOA that obtained the permits.
But I would suspect if the channel in front of a bunch of individual homes needed to be dredged, those homeowners could group together and obtain permits as a group, maybe even under the auspices of the HOA.
@Dogula, the information you got is incorrect. The land extending past the “high water line” is not counted in terms of coverage calculations. For most of the houses that equates to probably 2,000 to 4,000 square feet of land that is excluded from the calcs.
Thanks for the info, Richard.
@Leona, Unfortunately you discredit your post right away by stating “homeowners in the Tahoe Keys area are planning to have their man made lagoons dredged” when in fact all that is being dredged as previously pointed out is the main channel. After that statement who can take the rest of your post as anything but emotional. We all love the lake or we wouldn’t live here and all enjoy it in various ways. Boating will not destroy the lake, nor will dredging.
Speaking of dredging, it’s my understanding that the Marina (or East channel) got it’s permit to dredge from Lahontan last week and is waiting on one more which “usually follows closely behind”. I was told they will shut down the channel for two months while they dredge, will have the entire project surrounded with screening to protect the lake, and expect to be finished by the first week in June.
Wish this had happened late last Fall because if the current weather is any indication, the next two months should be beautiful boating weather.