Modeling a basin-wide extrapolation of stormwater management activities: A case study of the Lake Tahoe clarity TMDL implementation plan for developed areas

摘要

Lake Tahoe is a designated Outstanding National Resource Waterbody. However,lake clarity has dropped at a rate of 9 inches per year since the late 1960s, with ultrafinesediment and nutrient driven algae production as the primary stressors. About70% of the total fine sediment particles are estimated to come from developed areas,which make up 10% of this largely rural watershed. With more than $1.5 billionestimated as the cost to restore lake clarity, a premium has been placed on developinginformative decision support analyses. A detailed watershed model was developed torepresent the unique orography and hydrology of the Lake Tahoe Basin, predict loadsby land use source, and calculate TMDLs allocations. This paper highlights amethodology that informs the watershed model regarding pollutant load reductionsachieved from implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) under differentphysiographical settings for developed land in the Lake Tahoe Basin.