On the East Shore, the Buoy Lottery Has Room to Spare. The Pier Lottery Doesn't.

The 2026 TRPA mooring lottery takes entries until November 13 at 5:00 p.m. PST. Winning an allocation does not mean a buoy can go in the water. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency says the drawing is "for allocation only," and anyone who receives one still has to submit a complete project application showing it meets TRPA requirements. Buyers comparing lakefront homes on the East Shore tend to treat the buoy and the pier as similar line items. TRPA's own allocation tables show that they no longer are.

Since the 2018 Shoreline Plan, buoys have stopped being the scarce part of a lakefront parcel. Piers are now the scarce part. Six years of TRPA data show it, and it changes how two lakefront listings in Skyland, Marla Bay, Elk Point, Zephyr Cove or Glenbrook should be compared.

A lottery that has never needed a drawing

The Shoreline Plan caps new moorings across Lake Tahoe and releases them through an annual lottery. TRPA only holds a drawing if entries outnumber the allocations available that year. Otherwise, every eligible entry gets an allocation. The Tahoe Daily Tribune reported the same rule when this year's round opened on October 1.

TRPA's Shorezone Allocations Report shows how far demand has stayed below that threshold:

Each year, every eligible request was released. The 2026 ceiling is 171 private moorings, and 1,143 private allocations remain of the 1,486 the plan set aside for private buoys and boat lifts. The public submissions dashboard showed seven 2026 entries as of October 31. TRPA's notes say that moorings not released, along with allocations that are returned or go unused, go back into the pool for the next lottery. Since 2018, 66 private allocations have been returned this way.

So the cap on buoys exists, but it hasn't limited anyone. For a parcel that qualifies, the real constraints are the permitting process and the cost.

What an allocation actually starts

An allocation lets an owner apply. A lakefront owner who receives one in this round would generally go through these steps, each with its own cost:

1. Eligibility review. TRPA's fee schedule, effective January 20, 2026, lists a $368 Mooring Lottery Eligibility Review fee.
2. TRPA project application. The same schedule lists a filing fee of $1,581 for each buoy.
3. State submerged-lands permit. On the Nevada side, the Nevada Division of State Lands accepts applications for a permit to place a buoy, pier, breakwater or boat hoist on state-owned submerged land at Lake Tahoe. The division says its permit does not replace any other required approval and lists TRPA, Nevada water resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NDEP and NDOW among the other permitting agencies.
4. Annual carrying costs. Every mooring is subject to TRPA's annual registration through the Lake Tahoe Info mooring system. The 2026 schedule lists $43 a year for mooring registration and $47 a year for buoy scenic mitigation. Nevada's state-land rules in NAC Chapter 322 set annual fees of $250 for a residential buoy and $750 for a residential pier.

The paperwork takes longer than winning the allocation, and the fees are known in advance. Fee schedules and agency requirements change, and every parcel is different. This is general information, not legal or financial advice, so confirm your parcel's situation directly with TRPA, Nevada State Lands and your own advisers.

Where the rules still close the door

TRPA's Code of Ordinances decides which parcels qualify and where a buoy can go:

• Littoral parcels only. Only parcels that adjoin the lake can enter.
• A two-mooring ceiling. A single-family shoreline parcel can apply for no more than two moorings in total, so a home that already has two has no room left.
• Spacing. A private buoy outside an existing permitted field has to be at least 50 feet from any other buoy and at least 20 feet from the adjacent parcel's projection lines, and it has to stay within the Code's lakeward distance limits.
• Stream mouths. Buoys are not allowed in stream-mouth protection zones.
• No new buoy fields. TRPA can't permit additional buoy fields, and existing HOA buoy fields are limited by capacity and the number of association units.

On a narrow lakefront lot, the spacing rules can matter more than the lottery does. Even so, these questions about a parcel can be answered with a site plan and a measuring tape. The pier question is different, because it depends on a drawing with very poor odds.

The pier math runs the other way

The Shoreline Plan allows 128 new private piers around the whole lake, and TRPA can allocate up to 12 of them every two years. As of TRPA's current report, that cap breaks down by quadrant as follows.

A pier that serves only one parcel is even harder to get. No more than 25 of the new private piers can be single-parcel piers across the region, and 16 of those remain. In the 2025 round, TRPA allocated two single-parcel piers because one allocation from the previous period had been returned to the pool. TRPA's Pier Allocations page shows what that cap meant:

"Of the 56 proposals received, 52 were eligible for the random drawing on July 16, 2025, which awarded two single-parcel pier projects the opportunity to submit a complete New Pier Application to TRPA."

That means 52 eligible proposals competed for two awards. In the same six years that every eligible buoy request went through, a lakefront owner applying for a private pier had well under a one-in-twenty chance.

Shared piers are the other route, and the system favors owners who agree to share. TRPA ranks multiple-parcel proposals first by how many littoral parcels give up their own pier potential, then by the total number of littoral parcels retired. Proposals that would add access to an existing shared or HOA pier get the lowest priority. Even with those rankings, the 2025 round needed a random drawing. Of 22 multiple-parcel proposals, one was selected outright, and 17 that tied for the remaining ten slots went to the July 16, 2025 drawing. In 2025, Douglas/Carson and Washoe each received three multiple-parcel pier allocations and no single-parcel piers. Those projects had until January 18, 2026 to submit full applications.

The next pier lottery is scheduled for June 2027.

Reading two lakefront listings side by side

Here is how the allocation data applies to a real comparison. One East Shore lakefront home has a permitted pier, or a recorded right to use a shared one, and no buoy. A similar home nearby has two registered buoys and no pier. On a listing sheet they can look about equal, since both have water access.

The data puts them far apart. If the first home meets the eligibility and spacing rules, it is one mooring lottery and one permit process away from adding a buoy. In every year from 2020 through 2025, every eligible request in that lottery was granted. The second home can try for a single-parcel pier in June 2027, when it would join a field that had 52 eligible proposals for two awards last time. It could also join neighbors in a multiple-parcel proposal, which is ranked by how many parcels give up their own pier rights.

Under NAC 322, Nevada charges $750 a year for a residential pier and $250 for a residential buoy, so the pier also costs more to carry. Most qualifying parcels can add a buoy later, and very few can add a pier. That's why a lakefront purchase should confirm pier status and any shared-pier rights early, before the inspection period starts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there still time to enter the 2026 mooring lottery?

Yes. Submissions close November 13, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. PST through the Lake Tahoe Info moorings portal. TRPA will announce the drawing date, and a drawing happens only if entries outnumber the available allocations.

Is the mooring lottery the same as the pier lottery?

No. TRPA runs them separately. The mooring lottery covers buoys, boat lifts and slips every fall, and the pier lottery is held in June of odd-numbered years, next in June 2027.

Do existing buoys need anything each year?

Yes. Every mooring has to be registered with TRPA every year. For 2026, invoices became available January 1 and payment was due April 30. Buoy ID tags are not reissued each year.

If you're weighing a lakefront home on the East Shore where the difference between a pier and a buoy could change its value, The Zager Group can go through the parcel's shorezone history and permit status with you before you make an offer. Request a Private Lake Tahoe Market Consultation, and we'll start with the pier.