Congress may consider study of Lake Tahoe

Thursday, Sept. 25, 1997 | 11:22 a.m.

The money, included in the House Appropriations Bill for Energy and Water Development, would fund a study analyzing flood control, water quality, wetland habitat and other environmental restoration opportunities in the Tahoe Basin.

Nathan Parrott, Gibbons' press secretary, said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be responsible for working out the details and forming conclusions.

Although the project has long received bipartisan support, a Senate version only allots $320,000. Conferees from both parties and houses will try to reach a compromise, Parrott said.

"Hopefully, after negotiations in the conference committee take place, we will be able to secure the full $810,000 that is needed for this project," Gibbons said.

Parrott said the issue should be resolved before legislators leave for the winter recess, which usually happens in late October or early November.

If the two sides can't reach an agreement and the full $810,000 isn't allotted, Parrott said the Corps of Engineers would be responsible for coming up with the difference.

The study isn't related to the Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum, but incorporates the same philosophy the event was based on.

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