Truckee Carson Irrigation District continues Lahontan Reservoir drawdown

The Truckee Carson Irrigation District continues to drawdown Lahontan Reservoir under the direction of the Bureau of Reclamation.

According to a TCID media release, additional flows are being released into the Carson River below Lahontan Dam due to potential spring run-off conditions. TCID said residents of the Lahontan Valley may anticipate additional flows in the Carson River through the end of May. Lahontan’s level as of Tuesday was 277,145 acre-feet, about 18,000 acre-feet below the normal level.

Criteria established in 1997 for the Bureau of Reclamation and TCID allows the release of additional water in anticipation to threats on public safety. Because the United States Geological Survey (USGS) gage at Tarzyn Road exceeds 500 cubic feet per second, flood operations have begun. During such operations, TCID said all water releases are made available to any lands within the Newlands Project – whether water righted or not — with the consent of the landowner.

This includes water to the wetlands in the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, Stillwater Wildlife Management Area, Fallon National Wildlife Refuge, the Carson Lake Pasture and Marsh and the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Indian Reservation. Water delivered during flood operations is not charged against the annual allocations of any water right owner or against the annual diversion of water to lands in the Newlands Project.

TCID said it’s is not expecting to use the V-Line emergency weir blow Diversion Dam west of Fallon, but changing conditions upstream may require its use. The weir that was constructed March 2017 to mitigate potential flooding allows passage of water first through Sheckler Reservoir and then eventually to Carson Lake through culverts under U.S. Highway 95 south of Pasture Road.

TCID said no increase will be made to the current Carson River level of flow in order to avoid any potential property damage. No breach of the bridge at Bafford Lane is anticipated.

For additional information, call TCID at 775-423-2141.