Indicator
Suspended Sediment Load (Tributaries)
Basics
Suspended Sediment Load (Tributaries)
Suspended Sediment 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 Lake Tahoe: decrease sediment load as required to attain turbidity values not to exceed three NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units). In addition, turbidity shall not exceed one NTU in shallow waters of the lake not directly influenced by stream discharges. 3) Pelagic Lake Tahoe - 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.
Indicators measured include total yearly suspended sediment load (expressed in million metric tonnes/year) and total annual stream flow (expressed in million cubic meters of water). The 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 load for each stream. The combined yearly load represents an estimate of the total mass of suspended sediment that is transported by seven streams to Lake Tahoe during a single water year.
This Indicator is reported in the following LT Info areas:
Status
Suspended Sediment Load Tributaries.JPG
Combined yearly load (million metric tonnes/year) of suspended sediment with total yearly inflow (million cubic meters) for the seven streams currently monitored in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Data are displayed for each water year (October 1 to September 30) from 1982 through 2014. The combined yearly load represents an estimate of the total mass of suspended sediment is transported by seven streams to Lake Tahoe during a single water year. The solid line is the combined total yearly inflow volume from the same streams, having a combined contributing watershed area of 350.51 square kilometers. Data is from the Lake Tahoe Interagency Monitoring Program (LTIMP).
Name Options
Suspended Sediment Loads 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.