Washoe Meadows State Park EIR ruled invalid
By Kathryn Reed
A five-year legal battle ended this month with a judge ruling the Washoe Meadows State Park environmental impact report is invalid.
Friends of Washoe Meadows filed the lawsuit against California State Parks saying the EIR was not consistent with the California Environmental Quality Act.
The state wants to restore the section of the Upper Truckee River that runs through its property on the South Shore, reconfigure holes at Lake Tahoe Golf Course in Meyers and reclassify some of the property so there would be less land as a state park and more as a recreation area.
All public landowners are reconfiguring the river so it flows more naturally – before it was straightened during the heyday of cattle grazing in the basin. Through the years the channel has gotten steeper, erosion became a problem and fine sediment was and is being carried to Lake Tahoe.
“We would really like to see them take a more rational approach to river restoration that does not sacrifice Washoe Meadows’ resources,” Lynne Paulson, who spearheaded the lawsuit, told Lake Tahoe News. “We are sorry it had to come to this. There should be river restoration and a better plan for the park and the golf course.”
Paulson’s group is concerned that downgrading the state park status will be precedent setting.
“The plan to move up to nine holes of a golf course into Washoe Meadows State Parks is inconsistent with the new vision for California State Parks issued by the Parks Forward Commission. The Commission’s priorities include long-term natural resource protection, the preservation of habitats that may serve as a climate refuge, and increasing the diversity of park users,” Paulson said. “In addition, it seems inconsistent for the state to encourage any golf course development on its land in light of the new demand for stringent reduction in water usage.”
The state has a few options. It can do nothing, it can appeal the decision of the Alameda County Superior Court judge, or it can fix the segments of the document the judge took issue with and hope for a different outcome. It will be up to the Attorney General’s Office to decide how to proceed.
“We are very disappointed in the decision and we were not expecting it,” Cyndie Walck, hydrologist with State Parks, told Lake Tahoe News. “Most of what the issue was was procedural.”
Crews will continue improving the trail network this summer, but nothing substantive can occur until the master plan for the park is developed. That got derailed because State Parks headquarters took away the funding as the lawsuit lingered. The golf course continues to be on a year-to-year lease.
Thank you lynee for all your work, and congratulations!
This is fantastic news! Thank you Lynne and all the others who fought this fight! Congratulations.
So what does this mean? Are they relocating golf holes? Are they re-routing the river? or will everything stay as is indefinitely?
SO the ruling was on the CEQA procedures and not on the project itself? Is that a “victory”.
Great job Lynne. You are a true Tahoe steward. Many people will be able to enjoy in later years what you have preserved.
WooHoo!
A win for the good guys. I am pleasantly surprised.
One of these days government is going to have to start following its own laws and rules.
this just means more money spent developing and EIS to restore this section of river. if the group truly cares about protecting tahoe and the upper truckee, help make sure that this section of river does in fact get restored. thank you.
Leave it as it is, who really cares about the lake. We can see the people who sue the state don’t. They only care about getting rid of the golf course.
Great news Lynne! A good battle well fought. Hopefully the park will remain intact and a dangerous legal precedent will not be established.
I believe there is doubt even about the river restoration being needed. Apparently only 1% of lake sediment comes from the Upper Truckee River. The enormous disturbance of the restoration will cause tons of sedimentation. How many years will need to pass before there is any kind of net gain?
If there are issues with the EIR according to this judge the State should make an appeal and have the opportunity to address the issues.
For more than 30 years I have watched the banks of the Upper Truckee change and fall away in areas. I have seen the clarity of the lake change over the 50+ years I have enjoyed this gorgeous lake. I support the State for attempting to correct the natural flow of the river and hopefully reduce the sediment that flows into the lake. It is not the only way sediment reaches the lake but it is one of the ways.
Reconfiguring the layout of the golf course is just that…reconfiguring. Isn’t it about trading one area for another in adjoining State Park and State Recreation areas? For anyone who attended any of the presentations by the State Parks on the proposals should understand it is not about building a new golf course. It is about the river first. At the same time it doesn’t mean the golf course needs to be eliminated. There is room for both realignment of the river banks and relocation of a portion of the existing gold course.
A separate issue is the drought. Water at any golf course, in a drought effected area needs to be used efficiently and sparingly. That’s another matter. Changes can likely be made without total elimination of courses.
p.s. I don’t play golf. But I do believe there is room for this public golf course on the south shore.
Can someone please stop the forest service ridiculously stupid project by the airport below elks club … What they are doing in that meadow is crazy.!!! Wish the community could have rallied against that project like this one.. Lynne… Help!!
Arctic
Try contacting the UNR professor who is suing the FS. He might be able to help you. The story ran here a couple of days ago so you should be able to find it.
Yup. Nicely done…you have now saved your private backyard park and once again wasted taxpayer dollars on behalf of the public. And the Truckee River will keep eroding! Give yourself a big pat on the back.
The Park was definately saved… And the river will heal itself if all these scientist stopped playing with nature like some never ending experiment. The log jams by the airport and over hanging vegetation shade the river and force it over the streambanks to flood. Now a new river sits in the middle of an open meadow with no vegetation. How is that helping? I don’t trust the science nor the people dreaming up and designing these high disturbance projects in our meadows.