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Invasive species removal resumes in Tallac, Taylor creeks marsh

Staff Report
The underwater bottom barrier in the marshes adjacent to Baldwin and Kiva beaches.
Photo by M. Rydel/Marine Taxonomic Services, LTD

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Project work to eradicate invasive plants has resumed at Taylor Creek and Tallac Creek marsh in South Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, began the project in November by removing vegetation from the marsh in preparation to install underwater bottom barriers in the marshes adjacent to Baldwin and Kiva beaches this spring, TRPA said when the project began. Bottom barriers are mats laid underwater to deprive weeds of sunlight they need to grow.

The barriers help control and eradicate invasive plant species such as Eurasian Watermilfoil and will be in place through 2025.



Invasive plants affect wildlife habitat, outcompete native plants and can impact recreation and water quality.

Beachgoers and other recreationists should avoid the marsh areas where work is taking place and be aware of underwater hazards posed by the slippery bottom barriers and metal rebar stakes.



TRPA said the Taylor and Tallac Creek watersheds have been damaged by historical grazing, recreation infrastructure, construction, and erosion. The degraded condition has promoted the introduction of aquatic invasive weeds to the creeks and marshes that threatens native species and alters the marshes’ natural ecosystem.

Controlling invasive plants is the first phase in a larger, comprehensive Taylor and Tallac Creeks Restoration Project, according to the agency. Both aquatic invasive species control and creek restoration are components of the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program, one of the nation’s most ambitious landscape-scale restoration programs involving more than 80 organizations around the Tahoe Basin.


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