Incline Village plans major stream restoration
by Teresa Crawford, Outpost staff
View of Lake Tahoe
south from Mount Rose summit takes in the steep and
erosion-prone Incline Village watershed. Photo by
Teresa Crawford
Meri McEneny's title of natural resources specialist for
the Incline Village General Improvement District covers an
expanded job description that includes environmental
education for schoolchildren and stream restoration on Third
and Incline Creeks, the main tributaries.
McEneny said she looked forward to 1999 as a banner year for setting to rights the damaged waterways in her district.
"We are very excited about a complete watershed assessment
of these creeks to start next year," she said. "Our goal is
to identify the best projects to prioritize so we get the
best bang for the taxpayers' buck. Right now we are in the
process of recruiting a team of consultants: engineers,
geomorphologists and wildlife experts."
The 1996 Nevada Bond Act would pour about $1 million into the project, the biggest ever for the district, she said.
McEneny said that attending a gathering of Tahoe researchers in October helped her get much-needed scientific attention for Incline Village.
"The symposium did help," she said. "Since then, I've called University of Nevada, Reno hydrologists Wally Miller and John Warwick and had a good reception. I talked to another professor about having an undergraduate soils class do their field work here."
A major goal of the science meeting was to increase collaboration among the many agencies and universities involved in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Warwick, who did research on soil washed into Incline Creek by summer rainstorms, had startled the sedate crowd by saying emphatically that he didn't see much evidence of collaboration.
However, McEneny urged patience, even though Charles Goldman of the Tahoe Research Group who has studied Lake Tahoe for 40 years predicted a 10-20 year window to save the lake from irreversible loss of clarity.
"It's only in the last year that our agency staff have started talking with scientists from UNR," she said. "More collaboration is already happening. There's a lot of interest in Tahoe restoration. The money is here and what's learned here can be applied to other areas. The same problems of water quality occur everywhere there are people and streams."
McEneny praised the United States Geological Service, which touted its new Web site for gathering Lake Tahoe data at the science symposium.
"The USGS is phenomenal at gathering the data, but aren't necessarily doing the analyzing," she said. "It's up to people managing their own areas to use the data."
McEneny said that Charles Goldman's ominous 10-year
deadline to save the lake's clarity didn't daunt her.
"The 10-year window was identified two years ago," she said. "It's not good, but it doesn't mean you stop or give up. We keep working to do what we think best."
McEneny was a basin resident for more than 20 years before earning her degree in hydrology from UNR in 1995. She was a lift operator and casino cashier along the way to this job, which she said she loves.
"I became acquainted with water quality issues with stream work in Crystal Bay in 1988 and was inspired to learn the science," she said. "This is really an extension of my earlier jobs, helping people enjoy the area.
"I am delighted with this opportunity to serve the community."
Posted Dec. 7,
1998
Copyright 1998 Nevada Outpost
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