Illegal moorings cost a Tahoe rental company $30,000. How are authorities cracking down?

As boaters take to Lake Tahoe for the summer, regional authorities have doubled down against illegal moorings and watercraft rental companies in the area.

In April, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency closed a $30,000 settlement with Specialty Boat Rentals LLC, a boat rental company that operated without a shoreline concession permit from an illegal mooring near Regan Beach.

“Unauthorized moorings are unsafe, negatively impact Tahoe’s shoreline, and unjustly limit the careful plan for public access and recreation,” Joanne S. Marchetta, the agency’s executive director, said in a release this month. “Our shoreline program and the compliance measures that go with it are working. The governing board’s approval of the violation settlement encourages others to follow the application process.”

The news of the settlement comes a year after the planning agency issued a $90,000 penalty to Action Water Sports, a boat rental company in Incline Village, Nevada, in April 2021. According to the release, the company was accused of placing 10 unauthorized buoys in Lake Tahoe during the 2020 boating season.

Boaters in Lake Tahoe must comply with the 2018 Shoreline Plan, which outlines standards and permit requirements on watercraft activity to improve safety and reduce environmental impacts on the lake. The plan also protects fish habitats and caps the number of total moorings and piers permitted on the lake.

Boat rental companies must operate under a permit and in “appropriate locations, such as marinas,” according to the release. Companies must also require boat renters to download the Tahoe Boating app and watch a boater education video produced by the planning agency and the League to Save Lake Tahoe before boarding their boat.

According to the release, the agency’s watercraft team has returned to the water for the summer to enforce a slate of boating rules, including no-wake zones, noise ordinances and a ban on carbureted two-stroke engines.

Last year, the planning agency logged 580 corrective actions in response to violations of lake ordinances and required the removal of 30 vessels moored without authorization, according to the release.

All penalties collected from boaters are spent exclusively on research studies and special projects in the region, the agency said.