Lake Tahoe is famous for its clear water, spectacular shoreline and plentiful beaches. Popular spots for sunbathing, picnicking and other activities, the beaches have a problem — plastic bottles. 

Single-use plastic bottles are one of the most common pieces of trash found around Lake Tahoe, regularly outnumbering aluminum cans, pull tabs and food wrappers cleaned up by volunteers.

On both the California and Nevada sides of the lake, volunteers at cleanup efforts organized by Keep Tahoe Blue have picked up more than 24,000 plastic bottles over the past decade. In 2023 and 2024, volunteers removed more than 2,000 plastic bottles just from the Nevada side.

A bill introduced by Sen. Melanie Scheible (D-Las Vegas) takes direct aim at the issue and would prohibit the sale of single-use plastic water bottles on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

SB324 builds off similar California initiatives. The City of South Lake Tahoe prohibits the sale of single-use plastic water bottles containing less than 1 gallon of liquid and, starting April 22, the town of Truckee will have a similar ordinance take effect.

“This bill is coming from local people who live in Lake Tahoe, who visit Lake Tahoe, who love Lake Tahoe, who really want to maintain the beauty of the lake for generations to come,” Scheible said in an interview.  

It’s ‘Tahoe culture’ to bring a refillable bottle

If passed, local health departments would be responsible for enforcing the bill starting Jan. 1 — violators would receive a warning, followed by increasing fines of up to $500 per violation per year. 

But restricting access to bottled water would hinder peoples’ options for a healthier beverage alternative, likely hurt small businesses and fail to achieve environmental goals, argued the International Bottled Water and American Beverage associations.

“This legislation is not in the public interest,” the International Bottled Water Association stated in written testimony against the bill. “Restricting access to bottled water, in any packaging, would hinder individuals searching for a healthier beverage alternative.” 

This isn’t Scheible's first attempt to address plastic concerns. In 2019, she introduced a bill that would have launched a pilot program adding a deposit to bottle purchases, similar to programs in California and Oregon.

That bill didn’t pass, nor was it the first time lawmakers considered a deposit. In 2011, AB427 created a committee to study the deposits and refunds on recycled products, but two years later chose not to pursue a bottle bill. 

Proponents of SB324 are hoping people will pack in their own water in reusable containers or use any of the free stations around the Tahoe Basin that let people fill their own bottles with the lake’s (treated) water.

“It is a growing part of the culture at Tahoe to bring your bottle and fill it before you head out for the day,” Noa Banayan, government affairs manager for Keep Tahoe Blue, said during the April 1 hearing on the bill. 

Consumers will still have the option to purchase water in boxes or cans, or other beverages such as soda that are sold in plastic bottles. The difference is that people can visit a refill station and get access to world-class water, Banayan said, while there aren’t taps that let people access free soda. 

“We’re targeting plastic water bottles because we have this incredible alternative with Tahoe tap water,” Banayan said. 

Plastic by the numbers: 

Want a little plastic trivia? Here’s some hard-to-fathom numbers I stumbled across while researching plastic. 

• Each minute, an estimated 1 million plastic bottles are sold worldwide.
• At least 15 million metric tons of plastic float into the ocean each year. It’s estimated there is roughly 1 pound of plastic for every 3 pounds of fish in the ocean.
• Less than one-third of all plastic bottles are recycled. 
• In 2020, 11 people were arrested on suspicion of running a multistate recycling operation that transported empty plastic, aluminum and glass from Nevada and Arizona into California, costing California’s recycling fund more than $2 million. 

Speaking of bills … 

I’ve been covering environmental issues popping up in Carson City for Behind the Bar, our newsletter dedicated to all things Legislature, but this past week, there was just too much happening in the enviro world to squeeze into BTB. Here’s one more thing that deserves attention: 

Assm. Howard Watts (D-Las Vegas) is making a bid to expand solar access to low-income renters.

Since 1997, Nevada has allowed net metering, a process that allows homes with solar panels to offset or even transfer excess power back to the grid at a retail rate, helping them lower their power bills. AB458 would expand net metering to renters living in affordable housing units.

In some multifamily housing units, utility costs are combined and divided among the number of residents (known as master metering) and those residents, through previous legislation, have access to net metering. But in housing units with utility accounts held by individual tenants, there currently isn’t an option for net metering. 

AB458 — heard April 1 in the Assembly Growth and Infrastructure Committee — would remedy that, enabling property owners to install rooftop solar on affordable housing properties with five or more units (with exemptions for tribal housing), expanding net metering access to those low-income renters. One meter would measure the energy being generated; credits from that energy would be equitably distributed to tenants.

The bill would also pave the way for low-income renters to apply for part of the $156 million in federal money the Nevada Clean Energy Fund received for its Solar for All program, which is partially intended to improve access to solar for those in multifamily affordable housing units.

The bill also includes changes to NV Energy’s expanded solar access program, increasinging the amount of power that can be generated and limiting participation to low-income customers.  

Nevada labor groups expressed concerns with the bill, stating it doesn’t support union workers. Marie Steele, vice president of energy management systems at the utility, acknowledged that the bill is “well intentioned” but shared concerns “on behalf of a vulnerable population” about what she described as an “accelerated approach” that lacks “detail and regulatory process.”

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In the weeds: 

On the lookout — Lake Tahoe’s watercraft inspection program has added mandatory decontaminations to all visiting motorized watercraft in order to prevent the spread of invasive golden mussels into the lake. The mussels were discovered in October in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. 

Golden mussels are similar to quagga mussels, another aquatic invasive species officials are working to keep out of Lake Tahoe, but they reproduce much faster and can tolerate more variable conditions. 

The decontamination fee starts at $30.

Ready, set, mine — Lithium Americas’ board of directors has issued its final investment decision, the last piece of the funding puzzle needed to open up production at Northern Nevada’s Thacker Pass. Once operational, it will be the nation’s second operational lithium mine. 

Seeking a seat at the table — Gov. Joe Lombardo is requesting a representative from Nevada be appointed to the newly created federal Joint Task Force on Federal Land for Housing.

The Interior Department is studying selling about 400,000 acres of public land. Across the nation, there are 650 million acres of federal land, including 61 million in Nevada.

Lombardo made a similar pitch to former President Joe Biden in 2024 and in his 2023 and 2025 State of the State addresses.

Leaving No Trace — Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area has been given a nod by the Leave No Trace organization for incorporating its practices, which include traveling on durable surfaces; leaving rocks, flowers and other items in place; respecting wildlife; and disposing properly of waste, into the park’s management. 

The organization recognized Red Rock with its Gold Standard site designation, making it the first Leave No Trace Gold Standard site in Nevada.

Rediscovering Cave Lake — A rehabilitation project at Cave Creek Reservoir at Cave Lake State Park outside Ely is complete and the lake has since been refilled. 

The lake was drained in 2019 so that work could be done on its nearly 100-year-old dam. During the project, the lake’s water was diverted and its fish were relocated to nearby Comins Lake. Now that the reservoir has been refilled, reaching capacity in March, the Nevada Department of Wildlife is restocking the lake with 17,000 fish.  A celebration of the reservoir’s refilling will be held June 7.

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ICYMI: 

If sewage spills into a Nevada waterway, is anyone responsible for reporting it?

In the nation’s driest state, two bills seek to buy back and retire unused water rights

Trump's anti-DEI push suspends $20M grant for a Nevada tribe's water infrastructure

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Here’s what else I’m reading (and listening to) this week: 

Nevada wildlife crossing construction halted by federal funding freeze, Forbes reports. 

The Las Vegas Sun looks at how much water is worth as lawmakers weigh continued funding for Desert Research Institute’s cloud seeding program. 

National Geographic compiled a collection of images that give insight into what our national parks looked like well before the days of posing for the ‘Gram and park reservations. 

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A closer look: