![]() ![]() Tahoe Dam on the Truckee River allows the lake to fill higher, up to 6,229.1 feet, providing water for Northern Nevada residents and farmers. The lake’s natural water level sits at 6,223 feet. Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, Tahoe’s water levels are so low that there is no outflow at the Truckee River, the lake’s only outlet.Īt least temporarily, Tahoe has joined the ranks of other Great Basin water bodies such as Pyramid, Mono and Walker lakes that take in water without releasing it. Kleppe said he doesn’t believe the region is headed for another megadrought – at least not in the next few years – but that current dry conditions will persist for the next couple of years.īut until the region sees another substantial water year, water levels at Lake Tahoe will remain low.Īccording to scientists at the U.C. The team analyzed tree rings and sediment deposits and discovered that trees still standing at the bottom of Fallen Leaf Lake matured when the lake was anywhere from 130 to 200 feet lower than its current depth. When the megadrought ended, the lake refilled and submerged the trees. The discrepancies lie between scientific models, weather forecasts and years of observation, coupled with findings from several years ago that the region is historically vulnerable to megadroughts.įrom 800 to 1250 A.D., annual precipitation in the region was consistently less than 60 percent of normal, according to University of Nevada, Reno Professor Emeritus John Kleppe.Īnd prior to that, about 12,000 years ago, the region experienced severe drought at least every 650 to 1,150 years, according to Kleppe, who studied stands of pre-Medieval trees in Fallen Leaf Lake at the southern end of the Tahoe Basin with a team from UNR and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at San Diego.ĭuring the severe drought periods, lake levels at Fallen Leaf were so low that trees repopulated areas where the water had receded. Others maintain that this year, although dry, is business as usual. If that happens, Fannette Island, located in Emerald Bay, could become separate from the main lake. Some scientists and water experts say that if the dry spell continues, the lake could reach record low levels not seen since measurement of the lake started, more than 120 years ago. The low water levels have even kept kokanee salmon from spawning in areas such as Taylor Creek, which feeds into Lake Tahoe’s south shore. In north Tahoe, docks and piers stretch into the air, never hitting water.Īs drought conditions persist in the West, water experts and scientists are wondering just how low Lake Tahoe’s water level might drop. View Gallery: Photos: Drought hits hard in Lake TahoeĪlgae is rotting on Lake Tahoe's south shore beaches. ![]()
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