SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Crews began work this month in the marsh system of Taylor and Tallac creeks in the southwest portion of the Lake Tahoe Basin to remove aquatic invasive plants from an abundant and impacted marsh ecosystem, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency said today.

In partnership with the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, crews will remove vegetation from the marsh this fall in preparation for the laying of bottom barriers next spring, according to TRPA. Bottom barriers are mats laid underwater to deprive weeds of sunlight they need to grow. Visitors to the area should expect to see field crews at work in and around the marsh with all-terrain vehicles, skiffs, and vegetation management tools. This work is expected to continue as long as the weather allows.

The Taylor and Tallac creeks watershed have been damaged by historical grazing, recreation infrastructure, construction, and erosion. The degraded condition has promoted the introduction of aquatic invasive weeds that threaten native species and alter the marshes’ natural ecosystem.

Controlling invasive plants, including Eurasian watermilfoil, 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.