Category Archives: Conserve

Anticipating winter snows for Truckee River flows

Despite the rains of October in the central Sierra, Tahoe today is still 3.6″ below its rim and no water flows to the Truckee River from the Lake. Most of the Truckee River flow comes from tributaries downstream of Lake Tahoe’s outlet including the Little Truckee River, its largest tributary. It is, however, likely that Tahoe will rise above its rim in the coming weeks as winter weather approaches. Filling Lake Tahoe to its maximum elevation would raise the current level more than 6 feet and require at least a 200 percent water year or double the long-term average annual precipitation of snow and rain.

Lake Tahoe elevation week ending 12-05-2016

October was a wet month in Reno with two storms that each produced over an inch of rain. It was extremely welcome after a long and very dry summer and early autumn. The storms resulted in record October rainfall for some places in the central Sierra and Lake Tahoe. Temperatures remained warmer than “normal”, however, until late November when it finally cooled off. Mt Rose Ski area on the Mt Rose Highway is reporting 13″ of snow at the lodge of natural and artificial snow and 25″ at the 9,800 foot level as I write this. Squaw Valley-Alpine Meadows Ski Resort in California reports a base of 28″ and anticipates up to 2 feet of snow from a series of storms predicted to arrive Wednesday a stay into Saturday. News of the wet October have made a hoped for wet winter in the central Sierra after last year’s dismal “El Niño” palpable. [Find an SFGATE report on the October rainfall/snowfall here.]

Nov 16-Feb 17-precipitation-outlook

NOAA forecasts Northern California and Nevada will see a 50-50 chance of average precipitation under the “La Niña” conditions in the central Pacific Ocean. However, southern California and Nevada as well as most of the southwest and southeast US are forecast to see dry conditions during the “La Niña” winter. Some are saying that there is a good chance for more snow this year around Lake Tahoe northward to the Cascades.

US Drought Monitor Map 2016 11 29

The US Drought Monitor is still showing Reno in the Moderate to Severe drought category despite the recent rains, but soil moisture conditions have improved as you go north toward Oregon. California mostly remains in drought with a large portion of central and southern California in the most severe drought categories. Drought conditions in Nevada have moderated with western and southern Nevada remaining in the drought categories (click map for full size).

Truckee River flow through Reno is running around 200 cubic-feet-per-second (CFS). Most of the water in the river, however, is not making it to Pyramid Lake, captured instead at Derby Dam and sent to Lahontan Reservoir through a canal.

Unfortunately, Pyramid Lake’s elevation continues to fall due significantly to the diversion of Truckee River water into the canal built by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1905 as its very first project. Water is taken out of the Truckee and sent through an unlined canal from Derby diversion dam on the Truckee all the way to Lahontan Dam on the Carson River. Since the beginning of the drought in 2000, Pyramid Lake has fallen approximately 27 feet in elevation exposing large land areas previously covered by water including shrinking the Lake on its south end to puddles near the mouth of the river. Most of the loss of water to Pyramid Lake is due to diversions to the Newlands Project, however, rather than the drought itself. (More on this later)

Derby Dam on the Truckee River diverts Truckee River water to the Carson River for the Newlands Irrigation Project starting in 1905.

The Truckee Canal diversions have resulted in the loss of Winnemucca Lake in the valley adjacent to Pyramid Lake and the approximately 80 foot drop in elevation of Pyramid Lake itself since the early 1900s. This amounts to an approximately 8 million acre-foot water deficit for Pyramid Lake, the largest body of water entirely within Nevada or, in other words, represents nearly two decades worth of the average flow of the Truckee River that Pyramid Lake never received.

Pyramid Lake benefits from high precipitation years because of reduced diversions from the river when flows are high. During the drought starting in 2000 there have only been two periods of significant flows to Pyramid Lake which raised its level over the previous year. (click to see photo comparison at full size)

Pyramid at Pyramid Lake changes over recent decade and a half are dramatic

Will this year produce snow and rain that will finally raise Pyramid Lake’s level again and restore the flows to the Truckee River?

Click the either of the images below to see them full size.

: South end of Pyramid Lake Oct 2006

: South end of Pyramid Lake June 2015

Tahoe rises; still below rim

Pyramid Lake as rain moves in from the west

The recent rain in the northern Sierra and western Nevada was certainly welcome.

I just saw a Facebook post declaring that “11 billion gallons of water added to Lake Tahoe …”. Yes, Tahoe did rise about 3″, so its elevation today is about 6,222.75′ but still 3″ below its rim. So by the Facebook post’s reckoning, there remains an 11 billion gallon deficit.

Lake Tahoe Surface Elevation October 19, 2016

To be sure, the water year is just 3 weeks old and the 3 day rainstorm was a good start to the fall and winter season. Will we get a double or triple precipitation and snowpack year? We would need that and a lot more to make up for the 16 year drought the entire southwest has experienced.

While we can hope for a record-setting snowpack this winter, hope is not going to solve our continuing water crisis. We need to recognize the very real possibility that the average annual precipitation of the 20th century is less – perhaps far less – in the 21st century. The first sixteen years of this century have produced snowpack runoff resulting in only about 70% of the 20th century’s average river flows in the Truckee River. Expecting an end to the lower flows of the Truckee River is sticking our heads in the sand.

Not literally, I hope.

For a perspective on just how much less runoff we’ve gotten, look at a past truckeeriver.org article “Just 14 years ago …” written in 2014.

Truckee River at Tahoe City receives no water from Lake Tahoe.

Rain welcome after long dry summer

This Saturday, October 15 the rain intensified with the new storm. While the temperatures seem unseasonably warm, rain is always welcome in the desert. At 9:30 pm it is still raining and the temperature where I live in Reno is 50º F; not close to snowing, that’s for sure.

Rain, however, does result in rapid runoff from commercial and residential properties and parking lots and roads. Oil mobilized by rain in parking areas and roads runs off to adjacent streets, into the storm drains, and then into the Truckee River. Containing this toxic runoff requires a good storm drain plan that works to reduce and clean the runoff before it reaches the Truckee River. The community should focus more resources on cleaning pollution associated with rapid storm runoff.

A rain in Reno results in oil being mobilized and moving from parking lots to storm drains and into the Truckee River.

One Truckee River Plan adopted by Washoe, Sparks, and Reno

Truckee River at 2nd Street in downtown Reno in June.

One-two-three – each of the local governments has now adopted the One Truckee River Plan when the Reno City Council unanimously voted for it on September 28. The Washoe County Commission and Sparks City Council approved the plan earlier this month. A year-long process established the plan with involvement of many citizens and groups and agencies from the community. The approved plan addresses numerous issues of the Truckee River (and tributaries) through the urban area of the Truckee Meadows.

Community members at the first “One Truckee River Plan” meeting in fall 2015.

The One Truckee River Plan phase one lays out goals for implementation as funding becomes available and a time-frame to accomplish them.

“Goal One: Ensure and protect water quality and ecosystem health in the Truckee River” has six specific objectives with more detailed sub-objectives dealing with storm water, watershed management, human impacts, trees and vegetation, wildlife habitat, and the proper functioning of the river and its floodplain lands to attenuate flooding.
“Goal Two: Create and sustain a safe, beautiful and accessible river connecting people and places” also has 6 specific objectives to address appropriate use and discourage illegal activities, promote planning and management between Cities and County, enhance public safety and access, ensure better transportation and restrooms, add public art and murals, provide housing for homeless and access to medical care as an alternative to living on the river.
“Goal Three: Create an aware and engaged community that protects and cares for the river” has five specific objectives to promote awareness and education of the river’s natural and cultural importance, increase student education and participation, add opportunities for activities for all, inspire culture of stewardship, and ensure easy access to information. The latter could include a Truckee River Visitors Center, a network of kiosks, encouraging collaboration to Native American cultural uses of the river, and opportunities to acquire land or protect natural or cultural resources.
“Goal Four: Create an aware and engaged community that protects and cares for the river” has four specific objectives to create a sustainable organizational model to make implementation of the plan successful, develop partnerships and raise awareness of the plan, bring in funding to support the plan, and improve our understanding of the condition of the Truckee River.

The One Truckee River Plan – OTR Plan – is probably the most comprehensive look, yet, at the needs of the Truckee River and how to make the river a better place to visit while improving water quality, safety, accessibility, and helping residents and visitors to understand what makes a river “healthy”.

Truckee River Walk along Riverside Drive.

Organizations which were key to pursuing and moving the plan to adoption are The Nevada Land Trust and Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful. The National Park Service helped with funding and local and state agencies along with the Reno Sparks Indian Colony and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

One of the key features to the plan is community education and involvement and that is always a positive to help make changes in the river corridor where they are very much-needed today. The next phase of the plan will address downstream of the Truckee Meadows where rapid development in Washoe County and Storey County continue to threaten the river and its vegetative corridor. Phase two of the OTR Plan may well be more controversial since industrial interests have dominated recently with construction of huge new buildings, roads, and bridges.

For now, we can celebrate a new approach to benefit our area’s most important natural resource – the Truckee River.

Truckee River, March 2015

Tributaries make up most of the flow of the Truckee River | Keep the Truckee River Healthy and Flowing

Truckee River water use and Governor Sandoval’s Drought Forum

On the same day that the RGJ published the lead story about Governor Sandoval’s executive order creating the “Nevada Drought Forum”, the Governor also featured prominently in, “A top water user, Sandoval taking steps to cut back” as one of the top 150 household water users in the Truckee Meadows topping out at over 1,000,000 gallons in one year. The Governor immediately said that he was moving to reduce water use in his Reno residence. A local landscape company employee took some of the blame for the excessive use saying, “It was watering way more than it should have.” The Governor’s Reno residence includes an outdoor swimming pool and large areas of landscaping according to the RGJ.

Water runs off over-irrigated lawn in Reno

The Governor isn’t alone in using more water than necessary (a million gallons of water would produce 6 cuttings of alfalfa on an acre of land). Although I doubt that any of my neighbors are in the million gallon water user group that the Governor was, some are using plenty more than they need to. I say that because a several properties in my northwest neighborhood regularly allow water to flow down the street and into the gutter. That isn’t water they need – obviously.

Cutting back on water use means first that we recognize when we are wasting water. TMWA does have some suggestions on how to cut back, but do we need remedial training so that we can understand what excessive water use and waste actually looks like? I think that for many water use is just not on their radar screen – too many other priorities.

Truckee River depleted of its flow at the last water intake for the TMWA

Most of us think that if water is coming out of the tap or spraying out of the sprinkler, no problem, right? It can be difficult to associate the water we use in our houses and on our yards with the river – the Truckee River – whence it came. But every gallon you use in the Truckee Meadows (and many who live in the north valleys, too) comes from the Truckee River.

Galena Creek at Washoe County Galena Creek Park, Spring 2014

What about groundwater wells, you say? Ditto. Our groundwater wells in the Truckee Meadows are primarily filled from the river or its tributaries. Water flows from the western mountains through natural creeks and streams and ditches carry water around the entire valley from the Truckee River providing a way for streams to recharge the groundwater. In the Truckee Meadows itself, our annual precipitation at the airport averages only 7″ a year while evaporation is about 40″. With so little rainfall in the valley, it is the river and its tributaries that mostly fill our groundwater wells. Prior to explosive population growth and the ill-advised 1960’s era flood project that destroyed the Vista Marsh on the Truckee, the water table was very high. Flood irrigation of meadows and pastures through out the “Truckee Meadows” helped to keep it that way. It is safe to say that we are completely dependent on the Truckee River for our water here.

The RGJ article on the largest water users says, “the average household uses 124,000 gallons per year”. The 2010 census says that the average Washoe County household has about 3.2 persons making the daily water use about 106 gallons per person. Other cities in the west and southwest use significantly less water with better outdoor landscape ordinances, with Tucson, AZ averaging about 70 gallons per person per day. If Washoe County and the cities of Reno and Sparks adopted landscape ordinances and incentives to encourage water conservation we could reduce our use by more than 33% in wet and drought years. So instead of using 20 billion* gallons of water per year, households could reduce that to 13.4 billion gallons saving almost 7 billion gallons per year.

*I made this calculation: According an estimate of the 2013 census figures for Washoe County there were 163,198 households. So, using the average water use statistic quoted in the RGJ article (which most likely came from TMWA) that would be 124,000 gallons/household X 163,198 households = 20,236,552,000 gallons of water. Let’s say 20 billion gallons of water (billion with a “b”) or 61,400 acre-feet. (The number doesn’t include commercial or industrial water users.)

What can we do to save that water? The list is long, but key among them is to reduce the amount of turf in your yard beginning with the front lawn. Businesses and housing developments line streets and common areas with strips of turf that few use, but are big water users (and wasters because it is difficult to water narrow strips of turf).

Strip lawns are big water users with runoff from the narrow strips common.

Could that be a accomplished to save water in cities and towns throughout Nevada? We will have to wait to see what the Governor’s Drought Forum comes up with on a state-wide basis by November (Click here to see the Executive order). The Forum is top heavy in bureaucrats and includes the huge water agency from Las Vegas, the Southern Nevada Water Authority. On the positive side, it also includes scientists from UNR and DRI. Who else? That remains to be seen since the Governor is yet to announce any citizens interested in conserving water resources statewide.

The Governor’s Drought Forum is expected to produce a list of recommendations and a “Drought Summit” with stakeholders in September of this year. I’m sure that cutbacks in domestic use will be proposed. How will the Drought Forum address the severe drought in the Truckee River? Statewide? We all need to be concerned if the forum proposes to create more “storage” in the form of additional reservoirs on already stressed rivers and streams in the region. Storage can be effective when there is occasional drought, but more reservoirs will likely be ineffective in long-term drought. In the western climate existing reservoirs are already taking a big chunk out of available water through evaporation. Mountain reservoirs in our region evaporate at least 3 acre-feet of water per acre of exposed surface.

A better choice for “saving” water is to recognize first that we have allocated too much. This becomes especially apparent during long-term droughts. “Water rights” that Truckee Meadows industrial and commercial, residential, and agricultural users technically have don’t actually exist this year. Agricultural users will probably get less than 1/5th of their “water rights”. TMWA users are being asked to cut back “at least 10%”, but unstated is that TMWA isn’t actually using all of its “water rights” and that much of those “water rights” couldn’t be delivered because there is physically no water available. Emphasizing the point that water here is over allocated is that most irrigation ditches will likely be dry by June. Last year they were dry by August. Hopefully, this isn’t a trend.

Truckee River in downtown Reno

Water here is always in short supply. Western Nevada is a desert that happens to have a miraculous river delivered to us from California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains to our west. We are indeed fortunate to have this river that sustains us. Will we be up to the task to keep it flowing?

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