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Projects

At Clean Up the Lake 501(c)3, we lead both terrestrial and underwater cleanup efforts, collecting critical data to support scientific research and policy development while also running surveillance for aquatic invasive species and reporting observations on algal-blooms for future monitoring. Comprehensive assessments of completed projects are available below, offering detailed insights into our ongoing environmental impact and often providing recommendations for next steps for submerged litter management and aquatic invasive species management.

LEAP Program

Lake Tahoe, CA-NV

Project Year:Annual Lake Tahoe
Clean Up The Lake, Lake Mary, Mammoth Lakes, July 2024

Project Goals

The Litter Education & Awareness Program (LEAP) is one of the most important parts of driving change in the future.  Thanks to partners like the Pay It Forward Project and North Tahoe Community Alliance, our organization has developed over 4 different lesson plans for all students and age groups to help spread awareness about submerged litter issues in our freshwater systems as well as aquatic invasive species.  To date we have reached over 2,074 students in the Lake Tahoe area primarily, with some students in areas like Minnesota and Mammoth Lakes.

Supporting Partners

North Tahoe Community Alliance (TOT TBID logo)
North Tahoe Community Alliance
Pay It Forward Foundation

More Lake Tahoe Projects

72-Mile-(squared-symbol)

72 Mile Cleanup²

Project Year: 2025

Clean Up The Lake’s 72 Mile² deep clean project of Lake Tahoe will tackle 35-55 ft depths of Lake Tahoe using advanced technology such as Diver Propulsion Vehicles and Nitrox Gas.

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Lake-Tahoe-Deep-Clean-Pilot

Lake Tahoe Deep Clean Pilot

Project Year: 2025

Our organization and its volunteer dive team will be going deeper in Lake Tahoe to clean up litter found during deep dive surveys performed in 2022-2023.

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Media Productions

Make A Difference Creative

Project Years:Annual

Make A Difference Creative creates impactful environmental content that helps protect our environment both above and below the surface. Stay tuned for a feature documentary & a new web series releasing in 2025.

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Couch in the lake

Heavy Lift Litter Removal

Project Year: 2025

Clean Up The Lake plans to remove 722 heavy lift litter items from Lake Tahoe's lakebed, with planning set for 2025 and cleanup launching in 2026.

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TRPA_Boating_Safety_Campaign

Tahoe Boating Safety Campaign

Project Year: 2024

Clean Up The Lake's Make A Difference Media program is creating a comedy-series of boating safety videos for Lake Tahoe in partnership with TRPA, releasing in spring 2025.

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Tahoe-Keeper-Training-&-Video

Tahoe Keepers Training & Video

Project Year: 2024

Clean Up The Lake partnered with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to enhance Tahoe Keepers training with new in-person and digital content for concessionaire outreach.

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Lake-Tahoe-Litter-Summit

Lake Tahoe Litter Summit

Project Years:Annual

In 2024, Clean Up The Lake hosted the 2nd Annual Lake Tahoe Litter Summit, uniting 50+ leaders to tackle litter issues, form new committees, and drive solutions.

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LTMB

Lake Tahoe Buoyfield & Marina Cleanup

Project Year: 2024

The Lake Tahoe Buoyfield & Marina Cleanup targets concentrated litter areas missed during the 72-mile SCUBA cleanup, addressing buoyfields and marinas in need.

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clean-up-the-lake-on-lake-tahoe

Lake Tahoe Monitoring

Project Year: 2023

We explored submerged litter at depths of 45-70 feet in Lake Tahoe, cleaned 10 hot spots along the California shoreline, and analyzed litter trends over time with our environmental scientist team.

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divers-cleaning-up-a-portion-of-lake-tahoe

Lake Tahoe Monitoring – NV

Project Year: 2022

We explored submerged litter at deeper depths in Lake Tahoe (45-75 feet) and removed litter from 20 identified hot spots from the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe that were marked during the 72-mile cleanup.

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72-mile-cleanup--heavy-lift-colin-luba

72 Mile Clean Up

Project Years:2021, 2022

The 72-mile cleanup, made possible by partners and donors, along with 136 dedicated volunteers, removed 25,281 lbs of submerged litter from Lake Tahoe.

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scuba dive picking up trash in tahoe

Lake Tahoe Pilot Research

Project Year: 2020

In 2020, the Nevada Division of State Lands funded our cleanups at six locations along Lake Tahoe's NV shoreline and helped refine our litter collection, data procedures, and safety protocols.

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