In 2016, SIG did a mooring buoy inventory on the California side of Lake Tahoe, from shoreline to 2000 feet offshore. The inventory accounted for and recorded the geographic positions of all mooring buoys for boats and personal watercraft. The approximate boundaries of mooring buoy fields Tahoe were also digitally mapped according to parcel and permit information provided by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA).
To complete this survey, SIG first developed a buoy data collection and data management protocol which provided a training platform for field personnel to ensure consistent application of data collection and management. Then, GIS data from TRPA’s 2005 and 2006 buoy inventory was used to plan the 2016 inventory and as a background data layer. While each buoy was secured,SIG used a blue-toothed enabled Bad Elf Surveyor GPS/GNSS in combination with custom data forms created in the Fulcrum application to record mooring buoy coordinates and other ancillary information. A total of 3,698 mooring buoys were recorded. SIG’s data from the California side was combined with data collected by TRPA and other organizations that mapped the Nevada side of the lake to come up with an overall buoy map, which was used as part of the baseline information for an environmental impact analysis of proposed alternative shorezone development regulations at Lake Tahoe.
