Following President Clinton’s 1997 Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum, researchers have pursued a common agenda to reverse the environmental decline in the Tahoe Basin. Scientists from the University of Nevada, Reno, the Desert Research Institute and the University of California, Davis are collaborating to produce data needed by federal, state, regional and local agencies charged with managing Tahoe’s environmental future.

The Tahoe Environmental Science System (TESS), established in 2000 by officials of the three institutions, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Forest Service, makes the Lake's research facilities available to all Lake Tahoe scientists.

The "Lake Tahoe Watershed Assessment," a comprehensive report of the best available scientific information, was prepared by a team led by University of Nevada, Reno biology professor Dennis Murphy. The report lays a foundation for future restoration and management of Lake Tahoe.

The University and its sister institution, the Desert Research Institute, are conducting dozens of environmental research projects in the Tahoe Basin.

Adapted from Nevada News, 21 August 2001