Packaging Management Alternatives for the Lake Tahoe Clarity TMDL: Application of a Meta-Heuristic Optimization Technique for Developing a Recommended Basin-Wide Management Strategy

Lake Tahoe is a designated Outstanding National Resource Waterbody. However, lake clarity has dropped at a rate of 9 inches per year since the late 1960s, with ultra-fine sediment and nutrient driven algae production as the primary stressors. The primary sources have been identified as urban runoff and forest upland erosion, atmospheric deposition, and stream channel erosion. With more than $1.5 billion estimated as the cost to restore lake clarity, a premium has been placed on developing informative decision support analyses. Following an expert-led effort to characterize potential pollutant reduction opportunities and associated cost information for the primary sources identified, a meta-heuristic optimization technique was applied to evaluate the costs-benefits and selection trade-offs among controls associated with the various pollutant sources. This paper highlights the methods and results that were applied to assist stakeholder decision making for an integrated water quality management strategy.