27th Annual Lake Tahoe Summit

Protecting Lake Tahoe: Sustainability and Stewardship in the Face of Climate Crisis

Our team joined our partners from Keep Tahoe Blue for the 27th annual Lake Tahoe Summit at Kings Beach on August 9.

We engaged with locals, community leaders, agencies, and government officials to discuss how the new data we are collecting from our pilot projects, that will help push for policy solutions aimed at preventing threats to the environment.

Host Speaker: U.S. Senator Alex Padilla of California.

Our team cleaned a 5,000 square ft section of Kings Beach next to the event (about the size of a basketball court), and displayed the results in our booth for attendees to see first hand.

The results of the cleanup performed by the BEBOT at Kings Beach, August 9th, 2023.

We brought along the PixieDrone to show to attendees of the Summit. This battery-powered, autonomous and programmable, motorized skimmer glides across the water’s surface, gathering debris and invasive weed fragments.

The PixieDrone corrals, collects and removes harmful weeds so they can’t spread. It will also be paired with other weed control technologies, like bubble curtains, to increase efficacy. It is currently being tested in the Tahoe Keys Marina where data is being collected and operations perfected for potential future use in other parts of Tahoe.

We displayed the PixieDrone, BEBOT, and a six-foot cube structure in the booth displaying a sample of the trash collected this summer, showing the amount of time it takes for the items to break down in the environment completely. 

With climate change fueling intense wildfires and invasive species threatening the health of the lake every year, our team is more determined than ever to be a part of the action happening now to protect the beauty of the lake for future generations.

If you are looking for ways to get involved, head on over to https://www.keeptahoeblue.org/join-us/ to find out how you can make a direct impact in your community today. 

Many organizations attended to the Summit to bring new awareness to preventing microplastics in Lake Tahoe.

As the summer draws to a close, we are looking forward to more beach cleanup events to protect our shores, and to collecting data from our latest pilot project recently launched in the Tahoe Keys Marina.

We are looking forward to an exciting month ahead!