Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is one of the deepest (1645 feet/501 m), largest and highest (6229 feet/1898 m), and bluest lakes in the United States. Only Oregon's Crater Lake is bluer and deeper at 1930 feet (588 m). The area surrounding Lake Tahoe is full of restaurants, ski slopes and wooded homes, and casinos. Lake Tahoe is on the border between California and Nevada. As gambling is legal on the Nevada side of the lake, the resort area of Lake Tahoe attracts all kinds of fun seekers, year round. During ski season, thousands of people from all over California, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose, flock to the slopes or the shore. The two cities most identified with the Lake Tahoe tourist area are South Lake Tahoe, California and the smaller Stateline, Nevada.

Lake Tahoe has suffered from so much love. Until recently construction on the banks of the Lake had been, more or less, under the control of wealthy real estate developers. Construction activities had been linked to a 'clouding' of the amazingly blue waters of the Lake. A court injunction has stopped all new construction until new rules that ensure the protection of the lake over the interests of individuals are in place.

By 1990, the lake had started to show signs of eutrophication, which would wreck the pristine beauty that attracts tourists. To combat this, the local cities installed a quite-exotic tertiary sewage treatment plant.

Although Lake Tahoe is a natural lake, it is also used for water storage by the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District (TCID). The lake level is controlled by a dam near Tahoe City, California.

The Reno/Tahoe International Airport in Reno, Nevada was named after the lake.