Welcome

Welcome to the home page of the Restore the Upper Truckee River Project, California State Parks Reach.

This purpose of this site is to provide information, updates, and downloadable documents as part of a multi year planning process that will determine a preferred alternative for restoring a 1.5-mile reach of the river near Meyers, California.

 The Upper Truckee is the largest river that flows into Lake Tahoe, and also the biggest producer of sediment. The river has been negatively impacted by historic disturbances and modern development and has been targeted for restoration.

 The California State Parks (CSP) property is located on the west side of Highway 50 just south of Sawmill Road . This property was acquired to protect wet meadows and floodplain habitat in the mid 1980s. 

Because the golf course already existed on the property, the park was divided into 2 units: Lake Valley State Recreation Area (which contains the golf course) and Washoe Meadows State Park.   

Prior to the 1940s, this section of the river was straightened, leading to down-cutting, loss of connectivity to the floodplain and degradation of habitat. The river is still adjusting to this disturbance today as evidenced by unnaturally high erosion rates. The golf course was built on the previous floodplain/meadow area in 1958-1960, further degrading habitat as several of the holes are located along the river's edge.

  CSP recognizes the opportunity to restore this reach of the river, but is also committed to continue golf as one aspect of recreation on the property. The proposed alternative seeks to find a balance so that the river and meadow can be restored while the golf recreation can be relocated to less environmentally sensitive land further from the river.

 The purpose of the project is to restore natural geomorphic and ecological processes of this reach of the river in order to reduce the flow of nutrients and suspended sediments flowing into the lake, while maintaining both golf and other dispersed recreation.

 The decision to move forward with environmental studies comes after two public meetings and the release of a Notice of Preparation. The study, in cooperation with the Lake Tahoe Conservancy, US Bureau of Reclamation, and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, will be conducted by environmental consulting firm EDAW under the direction of project manager Cyndie Walck, an engineering ecologist with CSP.

The proposals being studied are as follows (see project map):

  No Project/No Action Alternative (Alternative #1): golf course and site would remain unchanged

 Geomorphic Restoration with 18-hole Regulation Golf Course Alternative:

Restore river and relocate eight to nine holes to higher capability lands, possibly to Washoe Meadows State Park (Alternative #2). The number of acres restored along the river would be approximately the same as the number of acres onto which the golf course would be relocated.  The area restored would be reclassified as state park, and the area where the golf course is relocated would be reclassified as state recreation Area.

Geomorphic Restoration with Reduced Golf Course Area Alternative: Restore the river and reduce the golf area, with all golf on the east side of the river (Alternative #3).

 Engineered Stabilization (In Place) Alternative: Stabilize existing river banks  and keep golf course unchanged (Alternative #4).

 Geomorphic Restoration with no Golf Course Alternative: Restore the river and remove the golf course (Alternative #5). 

The draft alternatives are proposed to be studied in the Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Review process required by the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. 

This web site is managed by the lead project sponsor, California State Parks, which owns both Lake Valley SRA, the land on which the 18-hole golf course is currently located, and Washoe Meadows State Park .

 This is a multi-year planning process. This site contains information necessary to take part in the planning process, which is expected to be completed in summer 2008.

 This web site is not designed to collect comments from the public on the project. Instead, see the Public Comments, Meetings and Timetable sections of the site for opportunities to comment on the project.

 For comments or to report problems with the web site, please contact the webmaster.