Scuba Divers Launch Program To Clean Lake Tahoe

Scuba divers have launched a six-month program to go underwater three days a week, cleaning up Lake Tahoe. 

The initial dive, which took place on Friday, May 14, garnered about 200 pounds of garbage. 

"I honestly did not think that we would get as much trash,” said Colin West with Clean Up the Lake, the non-profit group spearheading the project.

He said that based on all the expensive sunglasses and jewelry they're pulling up there's a lot of accidental trash. But there's also intentional littering — things like beer bottles, aluminum cans, tires and cinder blocks.

Courtesy Clean Up The Lake

"With more humans comes more trash, whether it's accidental or whether it's intentional,” he said. “So it's not really down to who's fault it is but who's going to come together to make a difference and solve this pollution issue in the Tahoe basin and our beautiful lake."

The team of between five and 10 divers will continue looking for trash along the lake's entire 72 miles of shoreline. 

The clean-up effort will continue through November and could be the largest in Lake Tahoe's history. Money for the $250,000 project is coming from grants.