Flows from Lake Tahoe to the Truckee River jumped 40% yesterday to 700 cubic-feet-per-second. Lake Tahoe continues to rise standing 6,227.07 feet above sea level. The Lake rose nearly 3 inches over the past 7 days. Truckee River flows surged during the week topping out at nearly 7,000 CFS through Reno and Sparks on March 22. Current Truckee River flows run at slightly more than 5,000 CFS in Sparks.

Increased flows from Lake Tahoe come before snow melt begins in earnest. More storms – although not as strong as previous storms – are expected to continue through the weekend adding additional precipitation and snowpack to the Tahoe and Truckee River basins. Tahoe stands four feet above its rim and 2 feet below its maximum elevation dictated by court decree. Tahoe has risen above its maximum elevation during periods of extreme precipitation events such as occurred in 1997.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As some of the snowpack melts during the past several days, flows in the Truckee River are increasing. Today, flows through Reno reached 2,200 cubic-feet-per-second (CFS) rising more than 400 CFS over the past 5 days. The Federal Watermaster continues to hold flows out of Lake Tahoe to 500 CFS.

The Natural Resource Conservation Service in an Reno Gazette-Journal story that the Sierra around Tahoe could exceed the previous record snowpack set in 1983. The March 1 snow survey showed that the Truckee River basin was at more than 200 percent of normal.