Sir

The proposed Round Hill facility of the Desert Research Institute in cooperation with the University of Nevada, Reno, will be complementary to the University of California at Davis facility on the California side of Lake Tahoe, and will certainly not be a “duplicate” as suggested in the News story “University confronts new rival across Lake Tahoe” (Nature 400, 806; 1999).

Our Nevada facility will focus on atmospheric, ecological and hydro-geological research on processes in the forest environments surrounding the lake, whereas most Davis work has dealt primarily with processes in the lake. The Round Hill facility will also provide a location for integration of science, management and public policy.

The planning for Round Hill has been open, with details discussed in a series of public meetings since 1997. A memorandum of understanding was signed on 11 August 1999, in which the Desert Research Institute (DRI), University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and Davis agreed to work with federal and state agencies to develop and implement a research agenda. This is not “competition” by Nevada scientists. The atmosphere is much more cooperative than suggested by the News story.

The notion that UNR and DRI scientists are newcomers to Tahoe basin research is not true. Nevada researchers have been studying the basin's ecosystems for decades, often in collaboration with Davis scientists. The Davis Tahoe Research Group, under the leadership of Charles Goldman, has also made significant contributions to our understanding of processes within the lake.

The proposed research facilities will be of benefit on two counts. First, the ecosystem is so complex that two research centres, one in Nevada and one in California, should speed the process of tackling the lake's environmental problems. Second, the US system of research funding is based on competition so that the best research is conducted. Although we anticipate collaboration on many projects, additional scientists competing for funds will increase the quality of research in the end.

Our goal is to provide excellent science that will allow public policy-makers to define and develop effective environmental management strategies. Nevada scientists support the excellent collaborative research programme developing at Lake Tahoe, which includes faculty members from Davis as well as researchers from national and international institutions. Our combined efforts will lead to an environmental management strategy to sustain the lake's beauty for the foreseeable future.