Milfoil in Truckee River being eliminated

The Tahoe Resource Conservation District is taking the proven approach of killing Eurasian watermilfoil in Emerald Bay to a pilot project on the Truckee River to control the aquatic invasive plant.

The week has been in Lake Tahoe since the late 1980s and likely entered the Truckee River following the overflow of the dam in 1997.

In 2010, approximately 6 acres of aquatic invasive plants covered the near shore near Vikingsholm. Bottom barriers killed the plants by eliminating light, along with the use of diver-assisted suction removal. After four years, Emerald Bay is free of aquatic invasive plants.

TRCD is going to use both methods on the Truckee River from the lakeside of the Tahoe City Dam downstream to Alpine Meadows Road.

In 2014, 10,000 square feet of benthic bottom barriers were laid lake-ward of the Tahoe City Dam. In 2015, less than 20 plants have been detected at this site and subsequently removed. Also in 2014, 427 cubic feet of invasive plants were removed downstream from the dam using diver-assisted suction removal.

This month TRCD is working with A.C.E. Diving to install bottom barriers in the river system below the dam.  While bottom barriers have been successful in open water lake environments, using them within a river system will be a new.

Tahoe RCD anticipates the need to continue efforts to control aquatic plants in the Truckee River for several years to come as the population is dense in some locations and environmental conditions such as water levels will continue to fluctuate.