© 2001 by Leo Poppoff

June 14, 2001

Basin Watch

by

Leo Poppoff

A TALE OF TWO LAKES

A while ago, I wrote about shoreline erosion caused by the management of
the Tahoe City dam. The article prompted an email from Maine, describing
a similar situation at Sebago Lake. The similarities with Lake Tahoe are
striking.

Sebago is the deepest lake in Maine, just as Tahoe is the deepest lake
in California and Nevada. In the 1800s, the watershed of Sebago Lake was
heavily logged, just like Tahoe's watershed.

Sebago Lake is oligotrophic, also like Lake Tahoe. This means that the
lakes are relatively short on nutrients and contain dissolved oxygen.
And like Tahoe, Sebago is getting to be less oligotrophic every day.

Historically, Sebago Lake was connected to the ocean through the
Presumpscot River. Atlantic salmon (now endangered) swam upriver to
spawn. Atlantic salmon don't die after spawning as Pacific salmon do.
They just go back to the ocean and return to spawn another day.

One species of Atlantic salmon preferred to stay in Sebago Lake, going
up or downstream to spawn. It seems that there's plenty of food, rainbow
smelt and other goodies, to attract ocean going salmon and keep
residents happy. Sebago salmon were once trophy size.

We once had a trophy fishery of cutthroat trout in Lake Tahoe. Via the
Truckee River, Lake Tahoe was connected to Pyramid Lake, and according
to some accounts, cutthroats came upriver from Pyramid. Some spawned in
the river and some came up to Tahoe. And, according to some, Tahoe
developed its own species of lake-dwelling cutthroats that spawned in
Tahoe's tributaries.

One of the causes of the decline of cutthroats is thought to be the
Tahoe City dam, as well as all the other dams on the Truckee River that
interfered with the cutthroat's migration. Dams on its two spawning
streams, one going in and one going out, caused the decline of Sebago
Lake's Atlantic salmon.

The Tahoe City dam (the one before the current one) impounded water for
hydroelectric power generation downstream, near Floriston. There was
also a paper mill near Floriston that was a very serious polluter.
Sebago Lake salmon became landlocked because of dams built to provide
electricity for a paper mill downstream. And the Presumpscot River
downstream of that mill is heavily polluted.

The company that owns the mill on the Presumpscot, also owns and
operates the dams. To provide more electrical power, the water level in
Sebago Lake has been raised in recent years. And, guess what? Sebago's
wide, sandy beaches have disappeared. Undermined trees have fallen in
the lake. Lakeside homes were destroyed. The state park has been ruined.

Sebago's shorelines are crumbling. The eroding soil, with its nutrients,
is causing the lake to deteriorate. That was why the Friends of Sebago
Lake were interested in problems with our dam and eroding shorelines.

Though serious, Sebago folks have a better chance of solving their
problem with dams than we do. One dam has been removed already. The
allure of gas-fired electrical generators may cause the paper mill
owners to abandon their other dam.

That prospect delights some folks around the lake, but not others. It
seems that marinas and piers have been built to take advantage of high
water-levels. So, boaters and marina operators oppose the dam's removal,
while those that enjoyed wide clean beaches and good fishing want the
dam to come down. Sounds like complaints heard when Lake Tahoe's level
reached new lows a few years ago. Who said that only Tahoe folks are
polarized over environmental issues?

A reader in Monterey sent me an article about another lake with
troubles, some of which we have in common. Squam Lake in New Hampshire
is the famous "Golden Pond" of the wonderful movie with Jane and Henry
Fonda and Katherine Hepburn. Like Lake Tahoe, it's being loved to death.

Once upon a time, Squam Lake was a summer home area for wealthy families
who owned large lakefront tracts and aspired to a rustic summer
existence. A few woodies and lots of canoes furnished transportation.
Because shorelines were privately owned, there was no public access.

Pressure for public access plus skyrocketing land values and taxes are
changing the lake. Roaring ski boats and buzzing personal watercraft are
disturbing the lake's serenity. Homes are sprouting on once vacant land.

Like Tahoe, Squam drains very slowly. So, nutrients hang around for a
long time. And algae have found happy homes. Increased runoff from the
42,000 acre watershed has turned the waters murky in the cove where
"Golden Pond" was filmed. The rocks now have a "fuzzy feel." Fish were
found belly-up in another cove.

Tahoe is special, but sadly, its troubles seem to be all too common.
Perhaps with hard work, know-how -- and luck -- we, at Tahoe can, by
example, lead the way toward rescuing the country's endangered lakes.
But, time is short.