Late night vote in Washington brings $415 million to Lake Tahoe
Submitted by Brett Fisher on Sun, 12/11/2016 - 1:47pm
Late Friday night, the U.S. House of Representatives joined the U.S. Senate in passing the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act of 2016, which will bring $415 million in future funding to Lake Tahoe over the next seven years. The decision brought cheers from many local agencies, including the League to Save lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
“The importance of this bipartisan legislation for Lake Tahoe cannot be overstated. We would like to thank our congressional delegation for its strong leadership in the passage of this bill, and our many partners around the lake for their vocal support,” said Joanne S. Marchetta, executive director of TRPA.
President Obama still needs to sign WIIN, an act that provides funding to enhance environmental restoration, forest management activities and enhance recreational opportunities in the Lake Tahoe Basin. It also improves drinking water infrastructure around the country, addresses control of coal combustion residuals, improves water storage and delivery to help drought-stricken communities, addresses federal dam maintenance backlogs, and approves longstanding water settlement agreements for the benefit of taxpayers and Native Americans.
When the President was in South Lake Tahoe in August to attend the Lake Tahoe Summit, he urged all to protect "this national treasure."
“This is a great day for Lake Tahoe," said Darcie Goodman Collins, PhD, executive director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe. "We are thrilled that Congress has passed the full Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, intact with the protections we supported. We are grateful for the hard work of our Senate delegation under the sponsorship of Nevada Senators Dean Heller and Harry Reid and California’s Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. This landmark legislation will provide over $400 million in critical public funds for environmental restoration projects, the control of aquatic invasive species and to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire. Once signed by President Obama, this legislation will allow essential actions to protect Lake Tahoe to move ahead, increasing the likelihood that we’ll be able to Keep Tahoe Blue now and for future generations.”
Sponsored by Dean Heller (R-Nevada), Harry Reid (D-Nevada), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), and Barbara Boxer (D-California) in the Senate, and by Mark Amodei (R-Nevada), Tom McClintock (R-California), and John Garamendi (D-California) in the House of Representatives, the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act authorizes:
• $150 million for hazardous fuels reduction projects to improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk;
• $113 million for projects to reduce stormwater pollution and improve water quality;
• $80 million for other high-priority projects;
• $45 million for projects to combat aquatic invasive species;
• $20 million for the reintroduction of native Lahontan cutthroat trout;
• $5 million for performance and accountability tracking;
• And $2 million for land boundary adjustments for improved efficiency of public land management.
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