SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Under the gaze of the freshly powdered Mt. Tallac, workers wade through Taylor Creek and Tallac Creek to pull up rebar, sand bags and what appear to be large black tarps.

“We’re excitingly removing the bottom barriers,” aquatic biologist Sarah Muskopf with the USDA Forest Service explains.

The cause for excitement is the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and Forest Service’s three year long treatment with these barriers has proved to be successful against the invasive Eurasian watermilfoil and curly-leaf pondweed, starving them of critical sunlight.

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A root check this summer revealed the barriers had killed the weeds, but the work doesn’t stop with the celebration. There’s still more work to do in the 2,600 acre site where managers are focused on the wetland portion found near Baldwin Beach. They’re placing attention there for a very important reason.

“These are really the last naturally functioning wetlands that we have in the basin,” Muskopf says, “although more are going to be restored.”

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The service and partners are working to restore both the biologically and physically sensitive and rare habitat there.

The removal of the bottom barriers completes phase one of the planned restoration work and sets the stage for other projects slated for the site. The reason it was important to start restoration with the removal of aquatic invasive weeds is exemplified by the American bullfrog population there, another aquatic invasive species.

“We’re hoping by removing these weeds that we’re really taking out a big habitat component for them,” Muskopt explains. Although it won’t get rid of them completely, she says they will wonder where the weeds went.

Dennis Zabaglo with the TRPA, calls it, “a little poke in the eye.”

The same is true for other non-desirable warm water invasive species.

What makes this accomplishment so noteworthy is that prior to this treatment, the largest aquatic invasive treatment was six acres.

“So we’re almost tripling that,” Zabaglo says. “It’s an exciting opportunity to bring back native habitat for one of the most beautiful places in the basin, and it’s also important ecologically speaking that these are our natural filters, these wetlands, to reduce nutrients and sediments from entering Lake Tahoe.”

Partners are looking forward to not only seeing the native habitat come back next season, but also native plants such as elodea and the common bladderwort.

Native fish species will also reap the benefits of the project, including the Lahontan cutthroat trout, which continues to receive numerous recovery efforts after the species was wiped out regionally in the 1940s. The Taylor and Tallac creeks provide a haven for small fish, protecting them from predators and creating an ideal environment for many native fish to spawn and rear.

Prior to this project, the treatments were often done in manipulated environments like a marina. This was the first of these types of treatments to be administered in a natural wetland. This meant that managers had to deal with curveballs the dynamic environment threw at them like changing water levels and ensuring activities did not have long-term impact on native and beneficial species, including the Kokanee salmon spawning.

Despite the phased install since 2021 and now removal of the mats, the work there is far from over.

“We have to make sure we’re protecting that investment,” Zabaglo says. It’s an investment of $4,721,947 so far and a reinfestation could threaten the hard earned return.

Weed fragments are easily moved with wind and waves, and can be transported by waterfowl, and boats. The site’s location within close proximity to other large infestations, along with increased boat activity, makes re-infestation a very real risk. The next two years will bring frequent surveillance monitoring to the treated area to ensure any infestations do not become established again.

The surveys are also important to continue to control curly-leaf pondweed, which unlike milfoil, reproduces through hardy turions. Although the bottom barriers kill the plant structure, these turions can survive and remain dormant until the opportune time to grow. As those sprout, managers will pull them with each survey.

The surveys will also track how natives species are doing.

As this phase comes to an end, the service is gearing up for phase two by finishing up design and permitting.

This next phase will bring a suite of restoration projects with it, including restoring hydrology. This is another reason why controlling the weeds first was important for managers. Doing it in a different order could have spread the already 17 acre infestation even wider.

The hydrologic work encompasses returning Tallac Creek to its original shape and removing culverts and fill placed in the fifties that disconnect habitats during low lake levels. The restoration will return the habitat into a continuous shallow channel with freestanding bridges that allow the water to flow freely.

With these changes, the service seeks to create a more resilient habitat to a changing climate. “Meaning that the wetland can stay wetter longer,” Muskopf says.

Other projects include improving the experience for the human visitor.

“People want to come out here and see and swim in beautiful water, but also see native species in the water, [and] see birds,” Muskopf says. “I think that’s all part of the draw.”

But creating a recreational experience while protecting the land can be a hard balance for land managers, Muskopf explains. “How can you have so many people out here in what is a really rare and sensitive habitat? And so the overall goal is to try to merge and bring those things to fruition.”

It’s the services hope to meet that goal with an improved picnic area, fencing around sensitive areas and interpretive signs to guide and inform on the experience.

The public can expect short-term and partial closures of the Baldwin Beach recreation area during phase two.

It’s unclear exactly when this phase will begin as the Forest Service is still seeking funding. Even with funding, the project requires certain low lake level conditions to complete it.

The public can follow the Forest Service on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) for the latest updates and can visit their website for news and more.