Indicator
Phosphorus Load (Tributaries)
Basics
Phosphorus Load (Tributaries)
Phosphorus Load in Streams
Intermediate Result
Program
Each Unit (number)
1) Tributaries: reduce total yearly nutrient and suspended sediment load to achieve loading thresholds for littoral and pelagic Lake Tahoe; 2) littoral and pelagic Lake Tahoe related standards for nutrient and sediment: reduce the loading of dissolved phosphorus, iron, and other algal nutrients from all sources, as required, to achieve ambient standards for primary productivity and transparency. (The load reduction needed to attain these standards is not provided.)
The total phosphorus load for each day at each stream was estimated from multiple regression of measured values. The daily values were summed over each water year, to generate an estimate of yearly total phosphorus load for each stream. The combined yearly load represents an estimate of the total mass of total phosphorus that is transported by seven streams into Lake Tahoe during a single water year.
This Indicator is reported in the following LT Info areas:
Status
Phosphorus Load Tributaries.JPG
Combined yearly total phosphorus load (Tonnes/yr), and total yearly inflow for seven streams currently monitoring in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Data are displayed for each water year (October 1 to September 30) from 1981 through 2014. The yearly load for each stream is calculated as the sum of daily loads for a given water year. The combined total phosphorus load represents an estimate of the total mass of phosphorus transported by seven streams to Lake Tahoe during a single water year. The solid line is the combined total yearly inflow from the same streams, having a total combined watershed area of 350.51 square kilometers. Data are from the Lake Tahoe Interagency Monitoring Program (LTIMP).
Name Options
Phosphorus Load Streams
General

Program Lake Tahoe Interagency Monitoring Program Stream Monitoring

Approach

The Lake Tahoe Interagency Monitoring Program (LTIMP) stream monitoring program was first developed in 1979 to assess sediment and nutrient input from tributaries to Lake Tahoe, and to support research that aims to understand the drivers affecting the transparency of Lake Tahoe. The tributary monitoring focuses on both event-based conditions (large runoff events associated with rainfall and snowmelt) and baseline conditions (low inflow during summer when precipitation is negligible). Up to 10 streams have been monitored since the early 1990s; five in California (Upper Truckee River, and Trout, General, Blackwood and Ward Creeks) and five in Nevada (Third, Incline, Glenbrook, Logan House, and Edgewood Creeks). Six of these streams have been monitored since water years 1980 or 1981. In water year 2012 the number of streams routinely monitored was reduced to seven (see map above), and all streams have primary monitoring stations at or near the point of discharge to Lake Tahoe. Sampling pr

Partners

Associated Programs data not provided.