"Long-term Ecosystem Studies and Their Political Implications: Lessons to be Learned from the Lake Tahoe Experience."

Aquatic ecosystems worldwide are under increasing anthropogenic stress. This necessitates rapid conversion of basic environmental studies into far-reaching management decisions. The development of hydroelectric reservoirs in Africa and Central and South America, the proposed Three Gorges project in China, the demise of the Aral Sea, and the threatened clarity of lakes Tahoe and Baikal all provide clear demonstrations of the global problems we face in the next century.The conservation of lakes and streams as well as the protection of drinking water sources is of particularly urgent concern. At Lake Tahoe, a multidisciplinary approach has been essential for developing effective water management strategies for increasingly complex environmental problems. Long-term data collection and careful analysis have been key to better understanding and managing the lake and its surrounding watershed. In the past, many policy decisions by regulatory agencies have been based on scanty short-term data that are sometimes lacking methodologically or subject to superficial interpretation. Such a case occurred during a short-term drought-related improvement in transparency at Tahoe. Modern ecologists and limnologists have a responsibility to help meet the growing global challenge for restoration and preservation of increasingly threatened water supplies. Strong environmental science based on long-term studies must be at the forefront in developing improved management practices for aquatic ecosystems worldwide.