‘Water Year 2024 is well on its way to achieving an A’

Lake Tahoe is expected to reach normal levels for the first time since 2019, SFGATE reports. The forecast comes via a recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which attributed the change over the past two winters to unusually high precipitation levels.

“In summary, Water Year 2024 is on track to receive an A on its final report card,” the report said. “The difference between an A- and an A+ could come down to the amount of spring precipitation the region receives and how those amounts affect observed streamflow volumes.”

Located in California and Nevada, Lake Tahoe is known for its sparkling blue waters and as a destination for tourists and water sports enthusiasts.

Despite being designated as an “Outstanding National Resource Water” under the Clean Water Act, the lake has faced several environmental challenges recently. Low water levels, plastic pollution and cloudiness caused by surrounding buildings are just some of the problems.

The fact that levels are now back up is a good sign for the valuable natural resource, which is home to nearly 300 species of birds, mammals and fish and more than a thousand species of plants, according to the California Tahoe Conservancy.

However, the highly fluctuating water levels are generally still a cause for concern. The overheating of our planet – largely caused by our society’s dependence on dirty energy sources like gas and oil – has led to changing weather patterns, leading to something called the ‘dry gets drier, wet gets wetter’ paradigm.

This refers to the phenomenon of weather essentially becoming more extreme across the spectrum. In the American West, this has resulted in megadroughts as well as intense wet seasons that cause flooding.

While the combined results have led to some lakes effectively becoming extinct, with levels falling dangerously low and then quickly filling up again, this is not a sustainable long-term solution.

To protect our natural resources and the many species that depend on them, it is critical that our society moves beyond gas and oil and embraces clean, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy.

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