Stewardship

Unfortunately, there are scarce few dive sites at Lake Tahoe where you won’t find trash. This can range from a rogue golf ball all by its lonesome to what look like sprawling underwater garbage dumps and pretty much everything in between. You can do your part by simply picking up a few things on each dive. When I’m going to areas with a bunch of trash (usually around boats), I’ll bring a mesh bag to fill up at the end of the dive. You may even find some treasure. One weekend I picked up a Seac snorkel with attached Mares Viper mask and the very next day found a Scubapro Solo mask.

If you want to get involved in a more serious way, Clean Up the Lake is a newer nonprofit that uses a cool system to clean up trash involving scuba divers, free divers, kayakers, and folks on jet skis and boats. They only operate during the warmer times of the year, but they need volunteers for all of the positions I just mentioned.

• Clean Up the Lake. Their mission is “to fight back against plastic and all forms of pollution in our global environment, both on land and under the surface, starting with Lake Tahoe and the Cayes in Belize.”
• Keep Tahoe Blue. “The League to Save Lake Tahoe is a solutions-oriented team of Tahoe advocates who use innovation, boots on-the-ground action and a unique, holistic approach to solve the environmental challenges threatening the Lake we love. Together with our community of residents and visitors, we Keep Tahoe Blue.”
• Tahoe Fund. “The goal of the Tahoe Fund is to become a major source of private funding for environmental projects around the Lake Tahoe Basin with an emphasis on forest health, lake clarity, sustainable recreation, transportation and stewardship.”