Herbicides in Lake Tahoe? Invasive plants provoke debate

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Officials in Lake Tahoe are weighing whether to use herbicides for the first time to contain the growth of invasive plants and prevent them from clouding the lake’s waters. Property owners and scientists want local officials to approve a trial program that includes herbicides, but they’re facing opposing from groups like the Sierra Club, which believes walling off the lagoon where the plants are thriving from the rest of the lake would better address the problem. The Reno Gazette Journal reports that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board and the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board will decide in January on whether to approve the 3-year trial program.