Packaging management alternatives for the Lake Tahoe clarity TMDL: Application of a meta-heuristic optimization technique for developing a recommended basin-wide management strategy

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. Theprimary sources have been identified as urban runoff and forest upland erosion,atmospheric deposition, and stream channel erosion. With more than $1.5 billionestimated as the cost to restore lake clarity, a premium has been placed on developinginformative decision support analyses. Following an expert-led effort to characterizepotential pollutant reduction opportunities and associated cost information for theprimary sources identified, a meta-heuristic optimization technique was applied toevaluate the costs-benefits and selection trade-offs among controls associated with thevarious pollutant sources. This paper highlights the methods and results that wereapplied to assist stakeholder decision making for an integrated water qualitymanagement strategy.