Truckee River Fund +++ Enhancing and Protecting our Water Resources

Invasive Aquatic Species Integrated Management Strategy

Project Sponsor: Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
Grant amount: $50,000
Organization match: $12,500
Funding Date: June 2007
Grant # 36

Summary: This project is intended to create an Integrated Management of Aquatic Invasive Species. Funding from this project is applied as a portion of a non-federal match that is needed to obtain approximately $1.3 million in other funding, primarily through the federal government.

Funding for this project will be used to keep invasive species (quagga mussels, zebra mussels and New Zealand mud snails) from entering the Tahoe Basin and the Truckee River Watershed. The portion of the funding from the TRF will be used specifically towards funding the boat inspections at launch facilities—a crucial aspect of the larger project since the primary vector for these invasive species to enter Lake Tahoe, and subsequently the Truckee River, is via boats and boat trailers. Screening boaters as they approach the ramp to determine the level of risk they present will help prevent invasive species from entering the waterways.

These boat inspections will take place at Cave Rock State Park and Sand Harbor State Park—locations considered to be the highest-volume launching facilities at the Lake, especially for out-of-town boaters who pose a greater risk of transporting these invasive species.