Conservation agencies buy Upper Truckee River land

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. —

A large swath of privately owned land along the Upper Truckee River has been acquired by conservation agencies as part of an effort to restore an altered watershed harming Lake Tahoe’s clarity.

The Tahoe Resource Conservation District in California recently announced the acquisition of Johnson Meadow, a 206-acre area that once served as a natural filter that helped reduce the amount of fine sediment flowing into the lake, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported Tuesday.

The $8.3 million land purchase was made possible through a partnership among the district, the California Tahoe Conservancy, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Tahoe Fund and the former property owners.

The water previously meandered through the marsh, letting the sediment settle before the water continued into Lake Tahoe. Now, water flows through an altered river channel directly into the lake.

Decades ago, developers had dredged and filled hundreds of acres of marshlands to build residential areas, causing problems for wildlife and the lake’s clarity.

The California Tahoe Conservancy completed a 12-acre restoration project on the western edge of the marsh in 2001. The project led to other local, state and federal agencies undertaking efforts to restore sections of the river and more than 1,000 acres of surrounding wetlands.

The restoration project for the meadow will likely take a decade to implement, said Nicole Cartwright, executive director of the conservation district. To restore the meadow, it will require up $15 million in funding.