Placer County changes sand mixture for snowy roads
By Barbara Barte Osborn, Sacramento Bee
Placer County supervisors approved a plan Tuesday that is expected to keep many thousands of pounds of fine sediment from entering Lake Tahoe.
The plan, to be submitted to the state Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, includes the use of coarser sand on roads this winter to improve vehicle traction.
The sand is expected to reduce the amount of fine sediment reaching the lake in snow and rain runoff by nearly 5,000 pounds annually, according to county officials. The county will also purchase a high-efficiency, vacuum-assisted sweeper.
“Our choice of sand material was based on a Caltrans study of different abrasives … comparing fine-sediment content and durability,” said Robert Costa, manager of the county’s Department of Public Works.
The county’s plan is required under a recently updated federal permit regulating storm runoff into the lake. Ongoing since 1992, it is renewed every five years, each time with new requirements, Costa said.
Six additional Placer sediment-reduction projects have begun. Projects in Kings Beach and Tahoe City are expected to prevent nearly 17,000 pounds of pollutants from entering the lake when completed, according to a county news release.
I actually noticed a courser sand on the roads in my neighborhood yesterday (West Shore of T.C.). It was every where, and we didn’t even get any snow! How about that poor planning (not to mention a waste of tax-payer resources).
The one problem with this new sanding plan is that I don’t see Placer spending the extra resources that will be needed to pick the road traction material up in time, before it gets grounded down into the fine sediment particles that will discharge into the Lake and continue to decrease clarity. I also do not see how they could effectively and in a timely manner pick-up all the traction material with one B.A. T. sweeper before too much time has passed for it to be turned into fine sediments.
The current sweepers that they (Placer) use in Tahoe are horrible! I’ve actually seen the dark cloud of the LOST smoke smoke monster coming out of them. Right now, they just go through the motions of sweeping without actually having any positive impacts to reducing fine sediment input. In fact, the current sweepers just suspend the fine sediments into the air, which will eventually reach the Lake.
I’d like to see the Caltrans report and see if they accounted for the on-the-ground breakdown of the courser traction material from automobiles.