EIP FAQ

Below are some frequently asked questions. If you have additional questions, please click "Request Support" in the upper right.

Q: What is the Environmental Improvement Program?

A: Launched in 1997, the Lake Tahoe EIP is a partnership of federal, state, and local agencies, private interests, and the Washoe Tribe, created to protect and improve the extraordinary natural and recreational resources of the Lake Tahoe Basin. EIP Partners implement hundreds of projects a year that range from new bike trails to creek restoration projects to programs that protect the lake from aquatic invasive species infestations. For more detail, please see our EIP Overview page.

Q: What is the Lake Tahoe EIP Project Tracker?

A: The Lake Tahoe EIP Project Tracker is a web-based platform for tracking and reporting EIP programmatic accomplishments and expenditures to key stakeholders (e.g. funders and the general public). It is not a tool to support detailed or day-to-day project management, but does aim to efficiently support entry of each project's accomplishments by performance measure and expenditures by funding source. It hosts the EIP 5-Year Priority Project List and allows EIP partners to propose updates to the list through the Project Tracker. There are 34 EIP Performance Measures (and three TMDL-specific performance measures) which form the basis of the program's quantitative accomplishments.

As of February 2019, there are over 1000 projects tracked in this tool.

Q: Who uses the Lake Tahoe EIP Project Tracker?

A: There are three main groups of users:

• EIP Executives, Funders and the General Public – EIP partner executives, federal and state legislative staff and other local and national stakeholders access the Lake Tahoe EIP Project Tracker accomplishment reports to understand the results of EIP implementation efforts and support the decision-making processes. 
• Project Implementers – EIP partners implement projects throughout the year and staff updates project accomplishments and expenditures in the Lake Tahoe EIP Project Tracker annually.
• Program Administrator – TRPA staff are responsible for maintaining the EIP 5-Year Priority Project List on the Lake Tahoe EIP Project Tracker and conducting quality assurance of project accomplishment and expenditure updates submitted by Project Implementers.

Q: How current is the information within this tool?

A: The project information within this tool is very current (typically no more than 1 year old). Any agency or organization implementing environmental improvement projects with the Tahoe Basin are required to annually update projects in Planning/Design, Implementation, or Post-Implementation stages by the end of December. Once submitted, the Program Adminstrator reviews these updates for accuracy and approves them by the end of January. 

Q: What is the reporting process?

A: Every fall Project Implementers update project accomplishments and expenditures in the Lake Tahoe EIP Project Tracker. Updates are required for all projects in Planning/Design, Implementation, or Post-Implementation stage. The Program Administrator maintains the EIP 5-Year Priority Project List and QAs project updates submitted by Project Implementers. Project updates submitted and approved by the Program Administrator are reflected in the results reports available on the Lake Tahoe EIP Project Tracker and the Program Administrator also uses the project updates to develop an annual EIP report summarizing key EIP accomplishments for EIP Executives and other stakeholders.

For more on this process, see out the Quickstart Guide (PDF).

Q: Why does project information, and thus expenditure and accomplishment data, only go back to 2007, or 2010 in some cases?

A: Before 2007, project information was tracked informally, in various ways, by different agencies. When creating the new Lake Tahoe EIP Project Tracker (and underlying database), the TRPA team and project steering committee considered attempting to rescue records for the 1997-2006 timeframe, but decided the cost to do so was not warranted. You can see the estimated total expenditures during these "Early Years", but project-level detail is not available.

Q: Where are these projects implemented? Are there any in my neighborhood?

A: This tool provides a map where all projects are plotted as points. You can filter this map by project stage or by program area. Click on a project marker on the map to learn more about it. 

Q: What types of projects does the EIP implement?

A: The best way to see the range of project types implemented is via the list of Programs within the EIP. This list shows each Program, the Focus Area it belongs to, and the Action Priorities under it. The far right of the table shows the count of projects planned or implemented under each Program. To learn more about a Program, click to view its details; e.g., here are the details and summarized accomplishments for the Watershed Restoration program.

Q: What defines a project as an EIP Project?

A: Environmental Improvement Projects are defined as projects that accellerate environmental threshold gains and falls under one or more EIP program areas. 

Don't see an answer to your question? Click "Request Support" in the upper right.