[This article is about the May 2003 Snapshot Day]
Each spring, the Lake Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition hosts a fun half-day event for families and volunteers to monitor the water quality of the streams flowing into Lake Tahoe. Volunteer Team Leaders are trained in the scientific protocol for collecting good water samples, and these leaders then take small groups of citizens to a particular stream near the lakeshore. Most volunteers are fascinated to learn about and practice the science of water testing, and virtually all find it fun to work in a friendly group at a beautiful site on one of Tahoe’s spectacular streams.
This annual event is called Snapshot Day, and it is sponsored by the Tahoe-Truckee Clean Water Team of the Lake Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition. This year’s event in on Saturday morning, May 10th. It is designed to get community volunteers involved in studying the water moving through the Lake Tahoe and Truckee River watersheds. Water samples are taken in order to develop a picture or “snapshot” of water quality and watershed health at a single point in time. The volunteer monitoring teams will test streams for dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH and temperature. They will also conduct a visual assessment, collect field data, grab samples and take photos. Water samples will be taken back to central meeting locations and measured for sediment particle size, turbidity, nutrients and fecal coliform bacteria. Sponsoring agencies will provide all the sampling and monitoring equipment.
Each annual Snapshot Day has a focus. This year the focus for Lake Tahoe volunteers is to gather sediment samples from the mouths of all 63 tributaries. These sediment samples will help provide data for the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study that is being conducted by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.
In addition to the Lake Tahoe event, Truckee volunteers will be collecting baseline data for all tributaries leading to the Truckee River and, in Reno, volunteers will be collecting data for streams that have not previously been sampled. This will allow us to portray the water quality picture of the larger Truckee River watershed.
The goals of this event are to stimulate citizen interest and participation in local water quality issues. It is also intended to provide baseline data that could be used to find new sites for watershed restoration, to monitor the success of Environmental Improvement Program projects, and to add to ongoing large-scale collaborative efforts to prevent further degradation of water quality. This year, many volunteers will also participate in collecting much needed data for the Lake Tahoe TMDL Project and the UC Davis Lake Tahoe Clarity Model.
Volunteers can elect to participate as either team leaders or team members. Team leaders must attend one of the Team Leader trainings listed below. All volunteers should contact the appropriate volunteer coordinator.
Team Leader Trainings:
On Snapshot Day, Saturday, May 10, all volunteers will meet at the training locations at 9:00a.m. to pick up sampling supplies. Refreshments will be provided.
For more information or to get involved, contact:
Heather Segale, Lake Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition, (775) 832-4138
North Shore: Melissa Blake, (775) 588-4547, ext. 208
South Shore: Heather Kuykendall, (530) 542-5560, ext. 325
Truckee: Beth Christman, (530) 550-8760
Reno: Jenny Francis, (775) 322-9934, ext. 3
Event sponsors include:
The Lake Tahoe Report 013
Air Date: 2003.04.29
Video Segment: Snapshot Day
Interviewees: Rita Whitney (TRPA & Clean Water Team)