Lake Tahoe preservation measures advance

Monday, Sept. 11, 2000 | 11:47 a.m.

Bills authored by Nevada and California lawmakers directing government officials to spend $300 million over the next decade on erosion control, traffic reduction and land acquisition in the Tahoe Basin were placed on the official calendars for consideration by the House and Senate late Thursday.

The Senate bill, by Democrat Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan of Nevada and Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California and the nearly identical House version by Republican Reps. Jim Gibbons of Nevada and John Doolittle of California now await action in both chambers before Congress adjourns next month.

No vote has been set, but Gibbons told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he expects it to happen in the House within two weeks.

"I'm going to put all my eggs in one basket and say it's going to pass this year," Gibbons said from Reno Friday.

Howard Gantman, a spokesman for Feinstein, said the move means the Senate measure could pass at any time.

Lake advocates visited Capitol Hill on Friday urging key lawmakers to move the measure forward.

Reid told members of the League to Save Lake Tahoe the measure could be rolled into a larger package of bills the Senate will approve before the session closes.

"The sooner we can do this, the better," Reid said.

If the legislation passes this year, the U.S. Forest Service, which owns 77 percent of the land surrounding the lake, would be required to develop a priority list of restoration projects.

Creating mass transit to reduce fuel spills and purchasing sensitive land to be forever blocked from developers are among ongoing endeavors.

Scientists who monitor Lake Tahoe have reported the lake's famous cobalt blue clarity has declined in just over two decades.

A white plate that could be seen at a depth of 105 feet in 1967 now disappears from view at 70 feet.