NDEP and the Lahontan Water Board recognize the need to operate and manage Lake Tahoe TMDL implementation through a continuous improvement and adaptive management framework. Doing so will help to maximize the return on the significant investment anticipated to meet the Clarity Challenge. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has sponsored a project funded by a Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act (SNPLMA) grant to develop the Lake Tahoe TMDL Management System (Management System) for this purpose.

The Management System will link together elements of implementation and accomplishments reporting; status and trends, effectiveness & implementation monitoring; research; and progress evaluation/assessment. A handbook will be developed that defines the operations, protocols and tools to manage, track, integrate and evaluate the latest information and provide guidance for how this information will be used to inform management and policy decisions. These decisions will be accomplished in a collaborative manner between the Lahontan Water Board and NDEP through a formalized, transparent and inclusive process that considers stakeholder input.

The Management System Project was initiated October 2011 and is scheduled to be complete by spring of 2014. Pilot implementation is scheduled to begin fall of 2012. Associated objectives include:

1. Establish effective accomplishment reporting which will enable funders and supporters to maintain confidence in efforts to restore Lake Tahoe’s clarity. Ongoing support is critical in achieving water quality milestones.

2. Engage implementing entities so they understand the water quality milestones they are trying to achieve and understand and accept their roles and responsibilities in terms of planning, completing and reporting their activities.

3. Enable structured interagency decision making among the many agencies that must stay coordinated to reach the “Clarity Challenge” and eventually the clarity standard. Defining this process will help keep regulators, implementers and funders moving forward.

4. Establish TMDL implementation protocols that guide staff in consistently and fairly implementing the TMDL and Environmental Improvement Program (EIP). Consistency will drive engagement from implementers who depend on regulators for reasonable targets and approaches to reach them, and improve efficiency by clearly defining a predictable and coordinated process.

5. Facilitate the application of new technologies and innovative practices that result in the most rapid and cost-effective achievement of TMDL load reduction targets.

6. Keep the public and legislators informed of accomplishments and programmatic and policy adjustments which in turn will maintain confidence in restoration efforts and support for the investment of public funds.

7. Establish and formalize policy and management processes and protocols necessary to operate and maintain the TMDL management system and to consistently track and quantitatively estimate and report progress toward meeting load reduction milestones.

8. Define the process by which the latest results of science activities (ie., research and monitoring) are used to assess progress and are integrated in the development of recommendations for programmatic and policy adjustments.

9. Link TMDL management components together into an understandable, formalized process that is documented and which is capable of being regularly evaluated and improved.