U.S. Senate Approves Historic Lake Tahoe Restoration Act
– Landmark Measure Provides $300 million over ten years to save this pristine lake –
October 5, 2000

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Senate today unanimously approved bipartisan legislation sponsored by U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to save the imperiled Lake Tahoe.

The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Cal.) and Richard Bryan (D-Nev.). A companion measure is sponsored in the House by Representatives John Doolittle (R-Roseville), Jim Gibbons (R-Reno) and Robert Matsui (D-Sacramento).

“Scientific evidence has shown that the lake has lost 33 feet of clarity over the last 27 years and is losing another foot of clarity each year,” Senator Feinstein said. “We have to act now because time is running out for Lake Tahoe. We have ten years to do something significant or the water quality deterioration becomes irreversible -- This bill will help in this fight to protect and save this natural wonder.”

"Passage of this bill is a major victory for Lake Tahoe,” Senator Reid said. “It moves us another step closer toward fulfilling our federal commitment to protecting this national environmental treasure. Standing with President Clinton and Vice President Gore at Lake Tahoe in 1997, we made a promise to Nevadans and to all Americans that we would do everything in our power to protect the beauty of Lake Tahoe. This legislation authorizes $300 million in federal funding over 10 years to preserve the Lake's clarity and to improve the health of the entire Tahoe Basin.”

The legislation requires the U.S. Forest Service to develop an annual priority list of environmental restoration projects and authorizes $200 million over ten years to implement these projects on federal lands. The bill authorizes $100 million over ten years as payments to local governments for erosion control activities. The measure now awaits approval by the House of Representatives.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency estimates it will cost $900 million dollars over the next decade to restore the Lake. The states of California and Nevada have pledged to provide more than $300 million together the project.

Local governments and private industry have also agreed to provide matching funds. The Tahoe Transportation and Water Quality Coalition, a coalition of 18 business and environmental groups, including Placer and El Dorado Counties, City of South Lake Tahoe, Douglass County in Nevada and Washoe County in Nevada have all agreed, representing an extraordinary commitment for a region with only 50,000 year round residents.