Whether you are an out-of-towner visiting Tahoe for the first time or a seasoned local, one thing is obvious – the Lake is looking looking awfully low right about now.- While near record breaking rainfall in May and the recent wet weather experienced this June have helped, the Lake is still about a foot below what it was this time last year and the historical average of Lake Tahoe.- It is hard to tell just how much the lake has benefitted from the recent storms vs. snowmelt but the Tahoe Bananza has a good article explaining the factors at work: While the recent thunder and rainstorms over Lake Tahoe have not contributed significantly to the lake’s level, it helped nature make the best of the snowpack the mountains received this winter, a local water expert said Tuesday. “Since the big rainstorms in early May we haven’t had any large rises, but it’s a just a little bit every day, and if nothing else, it’s offsetting evaporation, which is huge,” said Chief Deputy Water Master Chad Blanchard with the U.S. District Court Water Masters Office in Reno. The precipitation helps lake level not only by making up for evaporation but also by keeping the ground moist. This allows snowpack runoff to go directly to the lake instead of being absorbed into the ground, Blanchard said. Hanging out on some piers in Tahoe City recently, I could only imagine the stress that the Lake level is putting on boaters, businesses and residences around the lake. One of the things that I most look forward to in summers is floating the Truckee. Speaking to the Trucking River Raft Co. earlier, I was told that no one knows when the gates will be opened, but it could be anywhere from June 15 to July 1.- I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.