Runoff project may finally begin

Tuesday, March 23, 1999 | 10:12 a.m.

"This is a very important (Environmental Improvement Program) project. Absolutely," says Pam Drum of the bistate Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. "Treating the runoff from the highway system in that area and the private properties, including the casinos, is a critical need that must be fulfilled."

The TRPA's governing board will consider approving the project at a late April meeting. It was up for approval this week, but was delayed.

Construction is scheduled to begin June 2, and the project is expected to be completed by the end of June 2000.

Lake Tahoe's clarity has declined at a rate of more than one foot a year for the last 30 years. That decline is largely attributable to urban stormwater runoff.

The forest floor naturally filters water, so it doesn't carry sediment particles to the lake. But such filtering won't work in urban areas like Stateline, where nearly three-quarters of the casino core area is paved.

Some of Stateline's casinos already have stormwater treatment systems on their properties, which include sand and oil separators, sediment traps and infiltration trenches. More individual systems will be built. And after that treatment, about 95 percent of the runoff will be routed to a common treatment facility.

The common facilities will treat the water with trash-rack and sand- and oil-separation vaults. It will also remove fine particles and hydrocarbons. From there, the water will discharge to wetlands on Edgewood Golf Course before going into Lake Tahoe.

"A lot of the work has been done over the past several years, but this will tie all the pieces together, so to speak," said Gary Midkiff, consultant for the agencies involved.

Planning of the area-wide drainage system for the casino core began in 1988. The TRPA adopted a community plan in 1993, which required the implementation of the area-wide drainage and treatment facility. And Stateline hotel-casinos, Douglas County, Nev., and the Nevada Transportation Department signed an agreement for the project in early 1997.

The drainage project is identified in the TRPA's Environmental Improvement Program, the document that outlines what measures need to be taken over the next decade in order to save the clarity of Lake Tahoe.

"It's a big deal. It's a real water-quality benefit to get that done," said Jim Baetge, executive director of TRPA. "It's a really positive that we're going to get to work on that this year."