Lake Tahoe Boat Lift Permit: TRPA Lottery, Rules, Fees

Yes. On Lake Tahoe a new boat lift needs a permit from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), and before that it needs an allocation. TRPA's Code of Ordinances counts a lift as a mooring. A lift approved on or after October 24, 2018 is an "additional" mooring, and additional moorings are handed out through TRPA's mooring lottery, held every year. Only lakefront lots qualify, and each one may have two moorings at most. The state that owns the lake bed adds its own paperwork: the California State Lands Commission on the California side, and the Nevada Division of State Lands on the Nevada side.

Two answers circulate on the lake, and both are wrong. One is "TRPA lifted the old ban on new structures, so a lift is just a building permit." The ban did end in 2018, but new moorings come with a hard cap and a yearly release. The other is "no new lifts are allowed at Tahoe." They are, and there is a route that skips the lottery entirely: converting a buoy you already have. The layers shared across the country are in boat lift permits. This is general information, not legal advice.

Who permits it: TRPA, under Chapter 84 of its Code of Ordinances (amended June 24, 2026)
What a lift is: a mooring, the same as a buoy, slip or boathouse
New lift: an additional mooring, which needs an allocation from the annual mooring lottery
Limits: two moorings per lakefront lot; one watercraft per mooring; one lift per single-use pier
Skip the lottery: convert a legally existing buoy to a lift
Annual fee: $43 per lift in 2026; $90 per buoy
State layer: California State Lands Commission lease, or a Nevada Division of State Lands permit

The terms the answer turns on

TRPA is a planning agency set up by California and Nevada together to manage the whole Tahoe basin. Its Code uses a few words in a fixed way, and each one changes what your lift needs.

Boat lift. The Code's definitions chapter calls it "a mechanical device whose function is to raise and lower water craft in and out of a body of water for temporary storage." That "also includes low level boat lift, boat hoist, and boat saddle." A low-level lift is "a device with forks attached to a pier" that reaches under the boat.

Mooring. "A place where a watercraft is held fast with cables, lines, or anchors." Section 84.3.1 says mooring structures "include buoys, boat slips, boat houses, and boat lifts." So at Tahoe a lift is not an accessory to a pier. It is a mooring in its own right, and it counts toward every mooring limit.

Additional mooring. Any mooring "created pursuant to a TRPA approval issued on or after October 24, 2018." The Code then lists what is not additional. That list includes repair or replacement in the same spot, changes to a legally existing mooring on the same parcel, moving one on the same parcel, and converting one type to another.

Littoral parcel. "A parcel of land adjoining or abutting the high water elevation of a lake." In plain words, a lakefront lot. Only these lots get private moorings.

Lake Tahoe Datum (LTD). The elevation scale in all of TRPA's numbers. It equals the U.S. Geological Survey elevation plus 1.14 ft. On it, Tahoe's high water elevation is 6,229.1 ft and its low water elevation is 6,223.0 ft.

Lake Tahoe lift rules at a glance

TRPA and state rules for a residential boat lift on Lake Tahoe (TRPA Code of Ordinances as amended June 24, 2026; NRS chapter 322; read November 2026)
Question	Rule	Where it comes from
Is a lift a mooring?	Yes, with buoys, slips and boathouses	TRPA Code 84.3.1.B
New lift	Additional mooring; needs a lottery allocation	84.3.1.C, 84.3.2.E; TRPA shoreline page
Moorings per lakefront lot	Two at most	84.3.2.A
Boats per mooring	One	84.3.2.B
Buoy to lift	Allowed, within the two-mooring limit; not an additional mooring	84.3.2.D.3.b, 84.3.1.C.5
Lifts per single-use pier	One	84.4.3.B.2.k
Lifts per multiple-use pier	One per eligible parcel, four at most	84.4.3.C.2.k
Lift height	No more than 4 ft above the pier deck	84.4.3.A.10.a
Canopy on a pier	Prohibited	84.4.3.A.11
Annual TRPA fee, 2026	$43 per lift	84.3.2.G; TRPA registration system
Nevada state fee for a hoist on a pier	None may be charged	NRS 322.120

Why a new lift goes through the lottery

TRPA's Shoreline Plan, approved in October 2018, ended a long freeze on new shoreline structures. In its place it set caps. Section 84.3.2.E allows "a maximum of 2,116 additional moorings" in total, split three ways:

1,486 for private moorings, "as either buoys or boat lifts"
330 for marinas, as buoys or slips
300 for public agencies, as buoys or slips

The Code also limits how fast they go out. Starting in 2020, "a maximum of fifteen (15) percent of the available moorings shall be permitted annually." Any that are not used go back in the pool for the next year's count. TRPA's shoreline page says this happens through the mooring lottery, "held every year." The Code gives first priority to applicants who had state or federal approval before September 1, 2018, or a TRPA application already pending.

Note which word is missing from the private pool: slips. Section 84.3.2.E.5 says "New private boat slips shall be prohibited," and 84.3.2.C bans new boathouses. TRPA's shoreline page describes the 1,486 as "including buoys, boatlifts, and boat slips." The Code is the binding text, and for a private lot it allows only buoys or lifts.

The lottery in numbers

TRPA publishes the count on Lake Tahoe Info, its online parcel tracker. As of November 5, 2026, the shorezone allocations report showed this for the private pool:

409 private moorings released since 2018, and 66 returned unused
1,143 left of the 1,486
171 as the most that can go out in 2026, which is 15 percent of 1,143

The yearly figures tell a buyer more than the cap does. In 2020, the first year, 169 private moorings were released. Since then demand has fallen well below the limit. In 2024, 39 eligible private requests came in against a ceiling of 178, and all 39 were released. In 2025 it was 15 against 173, and again all 15 were released. So in recent years the lottery has not turned anyone away for lack of supply. The rules still decide who is eligible. The 2026 lottery was open in the system and not yet finalized when the report was read.

The 66 returned allocations matter too. The system's field notes describe them as allocations "assigned to a lottery submission but expired before they could be used." Winning an allocation is not a permit. You still need a complete TRPA application before the allocation runs out.

The way around the lottery: convert a buoy

Section 84.3.2.D lets "certain legally existing mooring structures" change type. Its rule for lifts is short: "A legally existing buoy may be converted to a boat lift, and vice-versa." That stays inside the two-mooring limit and the lift rules for piers. Section 84.3.1.C.5 then lists a conversion among the things that are not additional moorings. So it does not draw from the 2,116 cap the lottery hands out.

Two conditions come with it. Converted moorings "shall comply with all applicable development standards for additional mooring structures." That means the lift has to meet today's pier rules, not the rules in place when the buoy went in. And the buoy has to be legally existing. TRPA can recognize an older buoy backed by a state or federal permit issued before September 1, 2018, or with clear evidence it was there before February 10, 1972.

An old marine railway can also become a lift, if it still works. That lift is not limited by the one-lift rule for a single-use pier, but a pier may have "two boat lifts total." The Code says a lift made this way "shall be considered an additional mooring," so ask TRPA whether it needs an allocation.

How many lifts, and where they sit

The Code writes its lift limits as pier standards. Section 84.3.2.E.6 says TRPA may permit additional lifts "subject to the total number of moorings allowed" and "the pier development standards in subsection 84.4.3." The key ones for a lift:

Single-use pier (one or two homes on one lot): "One boat lift is allowed per single-use pier. Mitigation depends upon the capacity of the boat lift."
Multiple-use pier (shared by two or more lots): "One boatlift per parcel eligible for shorezone development," up to "a maximum of four boatlifts."
Height: boat lifts "shall not extend more than four feet above the pier deck."
No canopy: "Superstructures, permanent umbrellas, canopies" are "prohibited on piers." The canopy options in boat lift canopies do not apply to a lift on a Tahoe pier.
Looks: a lift and the boat on it do not count toward a pier's allowed visible mass. They do count when TRPA works out the scenic mitigation a pier owes.

The pier itself has fixed limits. A single-use pier may reach no farther out than elevation 6,219 ft LTD or the pierhead line, whichever is shorter. TRPA can allow up to 15 ft more if it is needed and the bottom slopes at least 3 percent. The deck may sit no higher than 6,232.0 ft LTD. The pier may be 10 ft wide at most, plus one catwalk up to 3 ft wide and 30 ft long. It must sit 40 ft from other piers and 20 ft from the lines that extend your side lot lines into the lake. Its supports must be at least 90 percent open. A shared pier may be 15 ft wide and reach farther out. Draw the pier, lift and setbacks to scale before you file, as covered in dock and slip layout.

Those elevations also set your water depth. If the pier ends where the lake bottom sits at 6,219 ft, there is about 4 ft of water at low water (6,223.0 ft) and about 10 ft at high water (6,229.1 ft). Check that against your lift's travel with the water depth requirements guide.

Worked example: one lakefront lot, three ways to get a lift

Take a single-family lot on the California shore with a legal single-use pier. Suppose it has two registered buoys and no lift, and the owner wants a lift for a runabout. Walked through the Code, the three plans work out like this.

Plan A: keep both buoys and add a lift. That makes three moorings. The limit is two, so it fails.
Plan B: convert one buoy to a lift. Still two moorings, so it passes the limit. A conversion is not an additional mooring, so no lottery. The lift is the pier's one lift. Its top may sit no more than 4 ft above the deck. There is no canopy. The lift and boat count toward the pier's scenic mitigation.
Plan B fees. Before: two buoys at $90 each is $180 a year. After: one buoy at $90 plus one lift at $43 is $133 a year, or $47 less.
Plan C: the same lot with a pier but no moorings. The lift is an additional mooring. The owner enters the yearly lottery, and if the lot is eligible and wins an allocation, files a complete TRPA application before it expires. In 2025 every one of the 15 eligible private requests was released.

Either way the state still has a say. On this California lot the pier sits on state land under a State Lands Commission lease, and the Commission's leases name lifts. Move the same lot to Nevada and the state may not charge a fee for a hoist attached to a pier. If the state permit has to change, NDSL charges $75 to amend it.

The annual TRPA fee

Section 84.3.2.G says "All existing and additional moorings shall be subject to an annual TRPA mooring registration fee." The amount is set in Article 16 of TRPA's Rules of Procedure. Buoys pay one more charge on top: an annual buoy scenic mitigation fee under 84.3.3.C. Lifts do not.

The 2026 amounts show in TRPA's Mooring Permitting and Registration System. Paid 2026 renewals there come to $90 for a lot with one buoy and $133 for a lot with one buoy and one lift. So a lift costs $43 a year, and a buoy $90 with its scenic fee. Registrations run by calendar year and renew online each year. TRPA's public inventory listed 529 lift records around the lake in November 2026, 405 of them registered through December 31, 2026.

California: the State Lands Commission

On the California side the lake bed is state land, and the California State Lands Commission (CSLC) leases its use. Its leases name boat lifts. A 2009 lease near Tahoma, Placer County, covered "an existing pier, boathouse, and two mooring buoys and the retention of an existing boat lift." The staff report noted the lift "has not been previously authorized by the Commission, but has been attached to the pier for many years." Staff recommended keeping it, under a separate exemption from state environmental review for small new structures. The item proposed a 10-year Recreational Pier Lease with "no monetary consideration" under Public Resources Code section 6503.5. It also required $500,000 in liability insurance and TRPA approval of the buoys.

A 2023 lease near Carnelian Bay shows the current form. It is a "General Lease, Recreational Use" for 10 years, "for use of an existing pier and one boat lift." So plan on the lift appearing in your CSLC lease, and ask the Commission what it charges, since this page could not confirm current rent.

Nevada: the Division of State Lands

On the Nevada side the Nevada Division of State Lands (NDSL) permits use of the lake bed. Nevada law defines a boat hoist as "a hoist, other than a hoist inside a boat house, for raising vessels from, or lowering vessels into, a navigable body of water." NRS 322.120 has the line that matters most for a lift. The state sets fees for hoists, slips and buoys, "except that no fee may be charged for a boat hoist, boat house or deck which is attached to a pier."

That covers the annual fee, not the paperwork. NDSL's Lake Tahoe application (rev. 11/28/2022) lists these terms:

Application fees of $250 for a new non-commercial use, or $75 to amend an active permit. They are not refunded.
A standard permit term of 10 years. Permits on one parcel can be combined into one.
Liability insurance starting at $1,000,000, naming the State of Nevada.
A site plan for "any other structure below 6,229.1 feet," showing nearby piers, hoists and buoys.
A 30-day review and comment period, with notice to neighbors.
Paper filings only, by mail or in person, paid by check.

The form also says a permit from another agency "does not ensure that a permit can be issued by the NDSL." It asks for copies of any TRPA or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approvals. So in Nevada a lift answers to TRPA and NDSL both, not one or the other.

Where this answer stops applying

This page covers a private lift at a single-family lakefront lot on Lake Tahoe itself. TRPA's shoreline rules also reach Fallen Leaf Lake and Cascade Lake, which this page does not cover. Marinas, homeowners' associations and public agencies follow different counts. The Code says a lift's mitigation "depends upon the capacity of the boat lift," but Chapter 84 does not give the formula, so ask TRPA. No new pier may go in a stream-mouth protection zone, which the Code lists by creek, and only shared piers may go in visually sensitive areas. A new pier also has its own, much tighter lottery. This page did not confirm current CSLC rent or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' rules for Tahoe. Lake Tahoe Info figures change as each lottery closes, so check the report before you plan. TRPA runs an aquatic invasive species program on the lake, so clean and dry a lift brought in from another lake first (see moving a boat lift between lakes). No permit covers the wiring. A powered lift needs a licensed electrician and ground-fault protection, as covered in boat lift electrical, because faulty dock wiring can cause electric shock drowning. Never stand under a raised boat. Other lakes write their own lift counts, such as Idaho's navigable lakes (see Idaho boat lift permits) and Lake of the Ozarks, where the utility permits each lift (see Lake of the Ozarks boat lift permits).

Frequently asked questions

Can I add a boat lift to my pier on Lake Tahoe?

Yes, if the lot stays within two moorings and the pier has no lift yet. A single-use pier may carry one lift, no more than 4 ft above the deck, with no canopy. A new lift is an additional mooring that needs a TRPA lottery allocation. Converting a registered buoy to a lift avoids the lottery. The California or Nevada state layer still applies.

How does the TRPA mooring lottery work?

TRPA can release up to 15 percent of the remaining additional moorings each year. Lakefront owners submit through Lake Tahoe Info, and eligible requests get allocations. Then you file a complete TRPA application before the allocation expires. In 2024 and 2025 every eligible private request was released, because demand was well below the yearly limit of about 175.

Can I convert my mooring buoy to a boat lift at Tahoe?

Yes. Section 84.3.2.D of TRPA's Code says a legally existing buoy may be converted to a boat lift, and back. A conversion is not an additional mooring, so it does not need a lottery allocation. The new lift must meet current pier standards, including one lift per single-use pier and the 4 ft height limit.

How much is the TRPA mooring registration fee for a boat lift?

$43 a year in 2026, based on paid renewals in TRPA's registration system. A buoy costs $90, because buoys also pay a buoy scenic mitigation fee. Every existing and additional mooring pays the registration fee each year, under section 84.3.2.G of the Code.

Can I put a canopy over my boat lift on Lake Tahoe?

Not on a pier. Section 84.4.3.A.11 of TRPA's Code prohibits "superstructures, permanent umbrellas, canopies" on piers. Lifts and other accessory structures also may not stand more than 4 ft above the pier deck. New private boathouses are banned too, so a covered lift is not an option for a new project.

Does Nevada charge a fee for a boat lift at Lake Tahoe?

Not for a lift attached to a pier. NRS 322.120 says no fee may be charged for a boat hoist, boat house or deck attached to a pier. Applications still cost money: $250 for a new permit or $75 to amend an active one, with $1,000,000 in liability insurance and a 30-day comment period.

Sources and further reading

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Code of Ordinances, adopted December 12, 2012, amended June 24, 2026: Chapter 84, sections 84.3 (Mooring Structures), 84.4 (Piers) and 84.11 (Mitigation); Chapter 90 definitions (http://web.archive.org/web/20261016164116id_/https://www.trpa.gov/wp-content/uploads/TRPA-Code-of-Ordinances.pdf)
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Shoreline program page: lotteries, allocations and mooring registration, captured July 30, 2026 (http://web.archive.org/web/20260730152704/https://www.trpa.gov/programs/shoreline/)
Lake Tahoe Info, Shorezone Allocations Report: mooring pools, yearly releases and lottery summaries, read November 5, 2026 (https://parcels.laketahoeinfo.org/Results/ShorezoneAllocationsReport)
Lake Tahoe Info, TRPA Mooring Permitting and Registration System: mooring inventory and 2026 renewal amounts, read November 5, 2026 (https://parcels.laketahoeinfo.org/MooringRegistration/Welcome)
California State Lands Commission, Calendar Item C04, Recreational Pier Lease, Lake Tahoe near Tahoma, August 11, 2009 (https://www.slc.ca.gov/Meeting_Summaries/2009_Documents/08-11-09/ITEMS_AND_EXHIBITS/C04.pdf)
California State Lands Commission, Issuance of General Lease, Recreational Use, Lease 4467, Lake Tahoe near Carnelian Bay, CEQAnet notice posted December 6, 2023 (https://ceqanet.lci.ca.gov/2023120151)
Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 322, Use of State Lands: NRS 322.0036 (boat hoist defined) and NRS 322.120 (fees) (https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-322.html)
Nevada Division of State Lands, Instructions and Application for Authorization to Use State-Owned Submerged Lands, Lake Tahoe, rev. 11/28/2022 (https://lands.nv.gov/uploads/documents/APPLICATION_FORM_NavWaters_Tahoe_11_28_2022V5FILLABLE.pdf)