California Water Officials
Join Tiff Over Tahoe Grazing

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. —(AP)— California state water officials have joined the fight over a plan to allow continued livestock grazing on 12,000 acres in the Tahoe Basin.

Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board officials said studies show that continued grazing at Meiss Meadows south of here will lead to more water-quality violations.

The Upper Truckee River, Tahoe's largest tributary, starts in the meadow at an elevation above 8000 feet. The meadow, which has been used for grazing since 1868, also is a popular recreation area.

``Based on current fecal coliform data, water-quality standards are violated every time livestock are introduced to Meiss Meadows,'' a board report concludes. ``This suggests that grazing should not be allowed on Meiss Meadows.''

A proposal by the Forest Service would allow the meadow's continued use by up to 200 cow-calf pairs between July 15 and Oct. 15.

The plan would require rotation of grazing areas to minimize impact. It also would limit the amount of vegetation that can be eaten by cattle and limit the disturbance by cattle of stream banks and spawning grounds used by Lahontan cutthroat trout.

But Lahontan board officials said the meadow has failed fecal coliform tests in recent years, and the plan doesn't go far enough to protect the environment.

A coliform count is used as an indicator of fecal contamination of water supplies.

Earlier this year, Lahontan issued a notice of violation to the Forest Service for fecal coliform violations in 1991, 1992, 1996 and 1997, all years when cows grazed the meadow.

There were either no cows or no sampling other years this decade.

Lahontan officials are urging the Forest Service to at least consider stricter grazing alternatives. The Forest Service leases the meadow to two California ranch families.

Grazing has long been a source of contention at Tahoe.

Some scientists say it adversely affects the water quality of Tahoe tributaries, not only because of viruses from manure but also because of sediment sent downstream by cattle trampling banks and stream beds.

(In situations like this we keep thinking about all those historically-challenged eco-activists who want to "return" to the clean water the West enjoyed before the white man came and brought his cattle. The fact is, the white man's cattle only displaced the red man's cattle — the buffalo. Early travelers, as far back as Lewis and Clark, described the huge herds of buffalo that grazed the West and the huge accumulations of manure they left behind, not to mention the "trampling" caused by migrating herds that numbered in the hundreds of thousands of head. And that doesn't even count the tens of thousands of carcasses left in rivers to rot as buffalo drowned crossing the treacherous obstacles. Surely the Indians, who these same eco-activists are convinced were always in harmony with Mother Earth, were aware of this pollution. Presumably they didn't do anything about it because they relied on the buffalo for food; they couldn't hop in the Beemer, run down to Safeway and snatch a convenience meal from the deli. — Ed.)

The League to Save Lake Tahoe environmental group and California Attorney General's Office also are opposing grazing in the meadow.

If grazing is to continue there, an environmental impact statement should be done, said Lisa Trankley, deputy attorney general.

The Forest Service's less comprehensive environmental assessment doesn't adequately address the issue, she said.