An isolated storm that caused large quantities of unexploded fireworks to spill into Lake Tahoe has derailed what was expected to be the most comprehensive modern study examining the effects of fireworks shows on the famed lake.

Clean Up The Lake, a nonprofit group traditionally focused on removing subsurface lake pollution, including the use of the first human-powered circumnavigation cleanup of Lake Tahoe using SCUBA, switched gears this July to spearhead the study. It was aimed at examining the effects of fireworks on the lake, which has suffered for decades from declining clarity, aquatic invasive species invasions and other human-induced problems. 

Working with other groups, scientists and fire protection districts, Clean Up The Lake launched what was to be a full-blown study utilizing ground, specialized SCUBA, free-dive and snorkel, and surface support teams to study the effects of the fireworks shows that are a major tourism draw on a popular holiday for the lake. 

The study was geared toward examining not just trash, but also water quality, including microplastics in the water, and had the potential to show the effects of firework debris and large-scale public events at the lake. It sought to establish a minimum benchmark for fireworks cleanup, according to Clean Up The Lake.

The group was midstream on collecting pre-Fourth of July data when a barge holding more than 1,200 fireworks sank into the lake after a quick but fierce storm blew through the Tahoe Basin. The barge, which sank in the lake near Incline Village, housed the very fireworks Clean Up The Lake was planning to study after their detonation.  

The capsizing of the barge not only prevented the show itself, but it paused all data collection by Clean Up The Lake, upending the study.

The planned launch of the study coincided with the release of an annual report examining the lake’s long-term clarity. Scientists have tracked Tahoe’s clarity as a metric of the lake’s health since the mid-20th century, following the Tahoe Basin’s development boom, and the most recent report showed that efforts to increase clarity are stuck in limbo.

“This would have been the first study that would have studied the impact of recreation and fireworks on the lake, which would have included the amount of materials such as paper and plastics, as well as chemicals introduced into the lake as a result of firework activity,” said Sudeep Chandra, UNR limnology professor who was involved in the project. “We wanted to understand how our sensitive ecosystems like Lake Tahoe would have responded to an important recreational activity like fireworks.” 

Pivot from drones to traditional fireworks spurred study

On July 2, the National Weather Service issued a lake wind advisory warning for the following day. There could be choppy water and strong winds, according to the service, which issued a moderate risk level for the storm. 

The following day, staff and volunteers from Clean Up the Lake were out on the water, testing water quality and performing SCUBA cleanups of the area as a sort of reset before the holiday. Debris the group would find after the Fourth of July could then be attributed to fireworks or holiday revelers, Clean Up The Lake CEO and Founder Colin West told The Nevada Independent.

But that evening, the barge sank, taking many of the 1,200 fireworks onboard with it. Some fireworks were retrieved before the barge completely capsized, but the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office was forced to close Ski and Incline beaches on the lake’s east shore because of the explosive nature of the undetonated fireworks. 

With bomb squads and specialized teams performing elaborate cleanup, Clean Up The Lake staff and volunteers weren’t able to access the site.

The materials that make fireworks explosive, including nitrates, sulfur and different metals, “may or may not have a lot of impact on the lake, especially the near shore, and that’s what we were hoping to test,” Chandra said.

The board of directors for Incline Fireworks Inc., which organizes the Fourth of July show, said it is working with a professional recovery team to assess and remediate any environmental effects. A spokesperson for the group did not reply to a request for an interview from The Nevada Independent.

Opponents of traditional fireworks shows have lobbied for firework-free celebrations or synchronized drones that create light shows in the sky, which some Tahoe municipalities such as Tahoe City, Incline Village and Kings Beach have previously embraced.

But this year, no drone shows were scheduled.

“The Boom is Back!” boasted the Tahoe City Downtown Association’s website. 

The pivot back to traditional fireworks shows drove the need for the study, West said.

“With multiple locations across the Tahoe Basin having returned from drone shows back to firework shows, it’s clear the community needs real, science-based information to make more informed decisions moving forward,” West said in a press release. 

West and Chandra said they look forward to embarking on the research project next year. “Sometimes science is like this, where you have to abort an experiment and you wait for the next best opportunity,” Chandra said.

Celebrations spark concern

This isn’t the first time Fourth of July celebrations in Lake Tahoe have sparked concern.

After receiving complaints from citizens about fireworks over the lake, the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2001 consulted with a UNR professor to collect data from before, during and after a fireworks display to evaluate chemicals of concern released into the lake. Of special concern “was the amount of debris and spent firework casings observed floating in the water after the fireworks.” Preliminary data showed elevated levels of nitrates after the fireworks display, but levels were still below thresholds designed to protect the lake. 

More than a decade ago, a South Lake couple sued Tahoe tourism officials after they found a note pinned on their door warning of unexploded firework mortars on a nearby beach. The couple’s 3-year-old grandson was the first to find a bit of firework debris, and they ultimately found more than 60 square feet of firework-related rubbish.

Their lawsuit alleged South Lake Tahoe’s fireworks show was violating the Clean Water Act; a settlement was ultimately reached that allowed the show to go on, but not before the couple decided to leave town on account of harassment, with one state senator (Ted Gaines, R-Roseville) accusing the couple of attacking an American tradition.

And in 2023, more than 6,300 pounds of trash were left strewn across the Zephyr Shoals, a popular east shore beach, by holiday revelers. Another 2,300 pounds of trash were found at a combined five other Tahoe beaches.

The capsizing of the barge also isn’t the only fluke weather-related event at the lake in recent history.

In 2024, a floating pier damaged in a winter storm released an estimated more than 200,000 pieces of Styrofoam into the lake, resulting in an emergency cleanup by Clean Up The Lake and the Incline Village General Improvement District.

And, in late June, another quick storm capsized boats on Lake Tahoe, leading to the death of eight people.