Named after Cave Rock on the east shore of Lake Tahoe, Cave Rock Estates was developed in the 1960s. Approximately 110 properties were originally developed with 80 private parcels still remaining today. Cave Rock Estates is an important focus area for the Community Watershed Partnership since it is steep and hydrologically directly connected to Lake Tahoe.

About


 

In 1990 and 2003, the Cave Rock Estates Erosion Control Project and the Cave Rock Estates Slope Protection Project installed treatments to control the sediment load that comes from this area. Slope stabilization and conveyance systems were created to move the bulk of Cave Rock Estates stormwater runoff to a bed filter at the bottom of the subdivision where is it treated. It then joins with Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) stormwater, and is sent through two deep sediment traps before entering Lake Tahoe.

 

The bed filter is now 22 years old and at the end of its operational life. It was designed prior to the identification of fine sediment particles (sub-16 µm sediment) as the target pollutant in the Lake Tahoe TMDL Program. NTCD and Cave Rock Estates GID have been working together on a plan to retrofit the existing bed filter to be more effective at fine sediment particle removal. This area-wide strategy is a new model for stormwater management and is paving the way for larger, more community based systems in the Basin.

 

The Cave Rock Estates GID Stormwater System Retrofit Project was implemented in the summer of 2014 and a Phase 2 was implemented in Summer 2016 to improve the direction of runoff into the treatment area. The project is working well since installation. 

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