Both are famous for deep crystal water whose clarity is threatened by the effects of human development upon the scenic shores, and both are being studied by scientists who share a concern for sustaining the biological diversity of the two ecosystems.
Linking the alpine lakes in a cultural and academic bond is an exchange pro gram of Russian and American student scientists who, spending summers in the Tahoe-Baikal Institute Exchange Program, explore comparable environmental problems of the two regions.
"The Russians and Americans strive to learn and to contribute to the preservation of both lakes. It's a hands-on program, not just study, with a major focus on how to improve the biodiversity ," said Dennis Machida, executive officer of the California Tahoe Conservancy. The exchange program also has the support and involvement of other agencies, including the California Conservation Corps (CCC), University of California, U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA).
Lake Baikal, the world's largest freshwater lake, holds more than 20 percent of the earth's fresh water. It is 400 miles long and would cover Texas to a depth of 98 feet. The 22-mile-long Lake Tahoe would submerge the Lone Star State by 8 inches.
The exchange program was proposed at the 1988 International Youth Conference in Helsinki and created in 1990. The non-profit Tahoe-Baikal Institute was established to implement the program and obtain funding.
Students Examine Biodiversity
During most of July and August, exchange program participants work and study together, first at Lake Tahoe, then at Lake Baikal. This year, the young scientists worked with biologists and aquatic ecologists to study watersheds of three creeks at Lake Tahoe: General, Ward and Black- wood. They learned about the biological diversity and how environmental variations affect distribution of organisms. The creeks are being restored by Parks and Recreation and the Forest Service.
The students assisted in restoring, cleaning up, and revegetating a piece of land that had been used as a dumping ground for old cars at Tahoe Vista. They planted wildflowers, native shrubs and trees, and protected the parcel with fencing.
Vegetation conditions around the two lakes are somewhat similar; national forests ring Lake Tahoe, while Lake Baikal has two national parks and two nature preserves; and both environments are disturbed by development, which is less regulated at Lake Baikal, and therefore potentially more polluting.
To gain greater understanding of Northern California ecology, students visited Yosemite National Park and Mono Lake, hiked into the Desolation Wilderness of the Sierra, rafted on the South Fork of the American River, and traveled to Pyramid Lake north of Reno, Nevada, for a tour of a fish hatchery and to learn about algal growth.
In Russia, the Americans marveled at Baikal's pristine beauty, and noticed environmental blights such as belching smokestacks and flowing sewage, which was outlawed decades ago at Lake Tahoe, and is piped out of the basin.
They helped the Russians prepare a brochure for visitors to 7-year-old Pribaikalsky National Park, and assisted in restoring and cleaning up blight, removing derelict fishing boat garages and pulling down old telegraph lines.
Greta Gilbert, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, said Russians care about ecology but lack environmental protections, for the policy-makers focus more on trying to feed people than on saving trees.
"What we learned from our visit (to Russia) is an appreciation for what they're going through," Gilbert said.
Tahoe Sets an Example
Debra Sharkey, exchange program coordinator, observed that there are lessons to be learned from environmental errors.
"The Russians can avoid some of the mistakes we have made. We wanted to show them our problems and what we have done to correct them," she said.
Vitaly Bogdanov, head of scientific research at the financially struggling Pribaikalsky National Park along the southwest shore of Lake Baikal, was impressed by Lake Tahoe's economic base, but said the expense of providing infra structure and meeting environmental standards in order to do business is analogous to "a snake that eats its own tail," meaning that he thought it costs as much or more than it's worth.
At the end of their U.S. visit, the Russians shared some personal observations.
Bogdanov liked the American way of self-promotion, noting that Russian tradition considered it impolite to "announce your knowledge."
Alina Rzhepka, a post-graduate researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences, found American motorists to be "very polite," and people generally approachable.
"You can say 'Hello, how are you?' to anybody," she said.