Questions swirl around Donner's water quality

Questions swirl around Donner's water quality By Greyson HowardSierra Sun TRUCKEE -- It's just a fact of life up here; Donner Lake plays second fiddle to Lake Tahoe."At the watershed council, we like to say Donner Lake is in the glory shadow of Lake Tahoe," said Lisa Wallace, executive director of the Truckee River Watershed Council. "If it was farther away from Tahoe, I think it would be really famous."But it isn't just in the throngs of visitors to the region where Donner Lake gets less attention: It's also in the scientific scrutiny the body of water receives for clarity and quality. Lake Tahoe has its own clarity standards, goals, and even its own governing entity, but Donner Lake doesn't have its own standards or objectives.  Instead it is lumped into Truckee River watershed standards from the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, said Lauri Kemper, supervising engineer with the board.In fact, Kemper said, Lahontan has no monitoring on Donner Lake - that's in comparison to the collaborative work on Lake Tahoe by the Lahontan water board, UC Davis, and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.  "Lake Tahoe gets more attention because it is federally designated an Outstanding National Water Resource for its extraordinary clarity, purity, and unique situation," Kemper said. "But Donner is an important part of the watershed. ... For entire article, please visit website.