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Geographic Research at Lake Tahoe


Map of land-cover change in the southern Lake Tahoe basin.

Lake Tahoe is a natural resource famous for its alpine setting and deep, clear waters. As human activity in the Lake Tahoe Basin has increased, significant environmental impacts have been observed and documented, including a loss in lake clarity of about 1 foot per year. Western Region Geography is responding to some of these concerns with several interdisciplinary projects in the basin. These range from development of a The National Map pilot project for examining effects of land use change over time on water-quality measures. Western Region Geography's project partners include the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, the Water Resources Discipline, the Desert Research Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, and local county governments.

Point of contact: Christopher E. Soulard

Recent Publications:

Raumann, Christian G., Duffie, E.S., Ostergren, C., and Kaiser, W., 2003, Geographic research at Lake Tahoe: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 101-03, [http://geography.wr.usgs.gov/news/docs-04/tahoe_fact_101-03.pdf].

Raumann, Christian G., 2007, Land-cover change in the southern Lake Tahoe basin, California and Nevada, 1940-2002: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 2962, scale 1:27,000 [http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/2007/2962/].