Lake Tahoe experienced its best water clarity in over 40 years during the winter of 2023, but summer brought some of the murkiest water on record, according to a report released Wednesday. The annual clarity report from the University of California, Davis’ Tahoe Environmental Research Center showed Tahoe had its 10th best year for water quality since record keeping began and the best quality since 1983 with visibility at 91.8 feet. But during the summer months, researchers noted that the clarity was the fifth murkiest on record with an average visibility of 53.5 feet. ”It’s important to understand the short-term changes but even more important to be thinking about how this lies in the context of the longer-term trends,” said Alexander Forrest, interim director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.