Integrating science into watershed management decisions at Lake Tahoe

The clarity of Lake Tahoe is decreasing. Early scientific water clarity dat a brought Lake Tahoe's water-quality problems to public attention in the 19 70s. However, there has been a dearth of scientific research on pollution s ources until recently. In 1997, President Clinton and Vice President Gore h eld public forums to focus national attention on Lake Tahoe. Since the pres idential forums, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has received increased assistance from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Forest Servi ce, and other federal agencies to forge a more effective link between scien tific research and policy making in the Tahoe Basin. Two research symposia have been held in the past year to facilitate collaboration between researc hers and policy makers in order to improve the environmental and economic h ealth of the Lake Tahoe Basin. Although progress is being made, the difficu lties of inter-agency and inter-university collaboration are considerable.