Numerous Federal, State, tribal, and local agencies within
the Lake Tahoe Basin are involved in a myriad of planning
and restoration efforts throughout the watershed ranging from
permitting to regulatory enforcement to maintaining and improving
the quality of surface and groundwater resources. Each entity
collects, analyzes and disseminates environmental data to
meet their agency´s or organization´s specific
goals. Frequently, these goals overlap and one agency can
benefit from the efforts of another agency. That is, instead
of re-sampling, an agency can use the monitoring data of another
agency.
However, until TIIMS, there was no means to track another
agency´s sampling and monitoring efforts or to coordinate
efforts among agencies. Currently, there are several large
initiatives being undertaken within the Basin including:
- Development of the Lake Tahoe Total Maximum Daily Loads
(TMDLs) in compliance with Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act.
- Development of the USFS Land and Resource Management Plan which will establish desired land and resource conditions,
management standards, designate suitable uses, and assure
forest management is consistent with environmental laws.
- Updating TRPA´s Environmental Thresholds which
were developed in 1982 and are used to track and evaluate
the environmental status of the Lake Tahoe Basin watershed.
- Development of TRPA´s 2007 Regional Plan which
sets the stage for development and environmental restoration
in the Basin.
- Implementation of the Environmental Improvement Program (EIP), which has identified nearly 800 projects to be
completed over a 20-year period. These projects support
the long-term restoration of Lake Tahoe and are the central
means of attaining the Thresholds.
Collectively, these efforts are called the Pathway 2007
initiatives. The agencies involved in these initiatives realized
the success of the Pathway 2007 initiatives was dependent
upon the ability of the multiple agencies involved in each
effort to efficiently and quickly exchange data and information.
Technical roadblocks are small compared to cooperation and
coordination issues to achieve this goal.
In May 2001, seven agencies partnered together to develop
a system to allow the seamless sharing of data and information
and enable collaboration and coordination among multiple agencies.
TIIMS is that system.
The seven TIIMS´ Partners include:
- Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA)
- Nevada Division of the Environmental Protection (NDEP)
- California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)
- U.S.D.A. Forest Service (USFS)
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
- Desert Research Institute (DRI)
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
These agencies have all committed the technical expertise,
essential data and information resources, financial resources
and many labor hours to ensure the success of TIIMS.
Your agency can easily become a TIIMS partner as well.
To find out how, go to Participating In and Supporting TIIMS
