Todd Mihevc at Lake Tahoe
Click image to enlarge.Todd Mihevc has a knack for finding the right tools for the job, but he’s no handyman for hire. For 25 years, Mihevc, an Assistant Research Hydrogeologist at DRI, has been instrumental in developing equipment that surveys, studies, and samples water systems in Nevada. His latest research concerns the nearshore water quality at Lake Tahoe.

“The nearshore area is really what people see, and it’s the first area to become degraded with sediments from streams that flow into the lake and storm runoff pollutants,” Mihevc said. “All in all, we’re trying to preserve the natural beauty and water quality of the lake.”

To achieve this goal, Mihevc and fellow researchers from DRI created a buoy that measures the water clarity of a nearshore environment off a beach close to Incline Village. The buoy uses a variety of sensors including turbidity, light attenuation, and relative chlorophyll; all of which are closely related and are measurements of light distribution within the water. In order to collect and record the data, the team needed a device that could house the sensors in the water. That’s where Mihevc came in.

With the help of Richard Susfalk, Ph.D., head of DRI’s nearshore project, Mihevc conceptualized the buoy and ultimately built it to incorporate the necessary sensors as well as other attributes, such as a radio transmitter to relay the data back to DRI and a solar panel that powered the buoy.

“With this project, I’m really the nuts and bolts guy. I’m responsible for the instruments and making sure everything fits,” Mihevc noted.

Surprisingly, amidst the complexity of the buoy’s devices, Mihevc said that the main problem was anchoring the buoy itself. “It takes a big anchor to keep this guy down…finally, we just got a large four foot by four foot piece of concrete to keep it grounded and stabilized,” said the researcher smiling.

Of course with every successful research project, certain adjustments are common, and this year Mihevc is looking to refine the buoy before its next deployment. “This time around the buoy will be pumping water from three different depths. It will look at the light transmittance from those depths, as well as the temperature of those depths.”

When asked what other changes would be made, Mihevc commented that steps would be taken to eliminate algae growth within the pumps, an issue that caused minor trouble for the previous buoy.

At first glance, Mihevc’s buoy may appear to be plain and uncomplicated, but that’s not the case at all. It is a scientific work of art, methodically built to produce measurements and data that are invaluable. Ultimately, this buoy could lead to a series of other buoys just like it, giving researchers a chance to observe Tahoe’s nearshore water clarity from a variety of locations on a 24/7 basis.

Lake Tahoe’s clear blue waters are arguably its greatest quality, a quality that visitors and locals have come to know and love. Todd Mihevc aims to keep it that way by building a buoy that provides results. “We’re setting this thing up so that we can eventually have more than one buoy out there…to be our eyes in the water.”