Tahoe’s past droughts subject of talk

John Kleppe, UNR professor emeritus, will be on the South Shore on April 25 to discuss Ancient Mega Droughts in the Lake Tahoe Basin and Beyond.

Kleppe fished Fallen Leaf Lake for 15 years before discovering it contained a preserved medieval forest in its depths. Intrigued by his fishing hooks getting caught on a mysterious underwater object, Kleppe sent down a diver. Kleppe discovered a 200-year-old medieval tree, still standing upright at over 100 feet tall, rooted on the bottom of the lake. Using carbon dating he determined it had drowned in 1215AD. He has since found more than 100 more trees.

Attendees will be taught about Fallen Leaf Lake’s role as an important microcosm of Lake Tahoe and how it is a “real world” working model that can be effectively used to develop concepts, methods, instrumentation, monitoring approaches, and complex models essential to the understanding and solving of problems throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The talk is free for Lake Tahoe Historical Society members, $3 for nonmembers. It will be at 7pm at the Camp Richardson Lodge.