Why go
The kokanee associated with Taylor Creek are part of a history of deliberate introductions. Adding opossum shrimp in the 1960s affected the small animals that fish also eat, with consequences beyond the original goal. Reading that history alongside the Angora Fire explains two different ways people and disturbance have shaped the basin’s ecological story.
The full story
Opossum shrimp were introduced to Lake Tahoe between 1963 and 1965 to improve the food supply for introduced kokanee salmon. The result was more complicated than simply giving fish another meal. The shrimp ate tiny water fleas, including Daphnia and Bosmina, that were already part of the lake’s food web. Those populations had almost disappeared by 1971. They recovered to some extent from the 1970s onward, but the historical account describes a lake whose ecological relationships had changed. Shrimp could provide food for salmon and trout while also competing with young fish for other small organisms. Change also arrives from the land. In June 2007, the Angora Fire burned roughly 3,100 acres (1,300 hectares) around South Lake Tahoe. It raised questions about erosion as well as ash reaching the lake. Together, these episodes show why Tahoe’s environmental history includes both the organisms beneath the surface and disturbances on the surrounding slopes.