Monday November 27, 2023
Tahoe Daily Tribune —
On Nov. 3, 2023, the U.S. Forestry Service temporarily interrupted the water flow to Taylor Creek from the Fallen Leaf Lake dam for three days.
This raised concern from community members regarding the spawning kokanee salmon and the future of their eggs.
University of Nevada, Reno Professor Sudeep Chandra says the flow into the lake also attracts kokanee to the stream for spawning and that while this interruption could impact reproduction, another concern is ensuring warm water invasive fish species don’t move across the ecosystem, becoming fully established in Taylor Creek and Fallen Leaf Lake.
He says if invasive warm water fish species were to become fully established in the creek, they would eat the young kokanee, limiting the amount of young that would make it back to the lake and become spawning adults themselves.
The USFS interrupted the flow for three days by closing a culvert at Fallen Leaf Lake that they say the warm water species, including large mouth bass, small mouth bass, crappie, bluegill, catfish ,and even goldfish, could move through and go into Fallen Leaf Lake.