The Influence of the Lake Tahoe Basin

The Lake Tahoe Basin is the largest alpine lake in North America (150.7 km^3) and is the second deepest in the United States after Crater Lake in Oregon (594 m). The lake was formed over 2 million years ago from shifting geologic faults. The basin lies in between two mountain ranges - the Carson range in the eastern margin and the Sierra Nevadas in the western margin.

I chose this to be the place of my study area as it is a region with high biodiversity. It is also a place that I consider my second home. My passion for researching Lake Tahoe comes from spending entire breaks of my childhood with my family at our cabin in Truckee, CA. Throughout multiple ecology courses during my undergraduate years at UCSC, I chose to apply my knowledge towards researching the Lake Tahoe Basin. Half of the basin is in California, while the other half is in Nevada.

The basin is 22 miles long, 12 miles wide, and has 72 miles of shoreline. The greatest depth of 1,645 ft makes it the second deepest lake in the US. 63 fresh water streams flow into Lake Tahoe but the only outflow is the Truckee River, which flows out into Pyramid Lake. Unlike most bodies of water in the country, Tahoe’s water never reaches the ocean (Kocher, 2020). If the lake's water were to get drained, it would take over 700 years to refill the late at its natural level.

I believe that due to all of it’s historic significance, along with the modern-day supply and demand of the Tahoe basin for its residents, it creates a need for investigating, documenting, analyzing, and promoting biodiversity.