Water outlook shows positive signs

The latest water supply outlook taken at the beginning of the month continues to show below normal averages in the Carson and Walker basins although the Lahontan Reservoir continues to increase its storage.

Officials with the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Reno see positive outlooks coming from the March 1 snowpack readings in the eastern Sierra Nevada, especially with a series of winter storms in the Sierra Nevada last week.

“Fortunately, Lake Tahoe is storing plenty of water to meet demands on the Truckee River this summer and Lake Tahoe is forecast to rise about another foot during snowmelt,” said Jeff Anderson, a hydrologist and water survey specialist with the Natural Resource Conservation Service. “The Truckee Canal has been flowing since early January to move water from the Truckee River to Lahontan Reservoir to supplement inflows from the Carson River. Lahontan Reservoir’s storage is above normal for this time of year.”

The reservoir as of last weekend has more than 200,000 acre-feet of water, a gain of 27,000 AF since the Feb. 1 reading. One acre-foot equals about 326,000 gallons, or enough water to cover an acre of land. Lahontan Reservoir holds 308,000 acre feet.

Anderson said a majority of storms this winter including those in February haven’t been cold enough to leave significant snowfall.

“Weather forecasts look promising for additional storms through the middle of March,” Anderson said. “Hopefully, the storm track benefits the entire state, especially eastern and Southern Nevada where drought conditions have worsened in recent months.”

Anderson said SNOTEL measuring sites are located in areas that usually have reliable snow readings during the mid-winter. Instead, rain instead of snowfall has occurred of this year’s storms. Anderson pointed out the Tahoe, Carson and Walker basins are hovering at 82-84%., while the higher elevations are showing a better percentage.

“SNOTELs continues to be lacking due to rain instead of snowfall at these elevations during many of this season’s storms and some snowmelt during late February’s high pressure,” he said. “Increased solar input moving into March could make it difficult for snow-free areas to develop a persistent snowpack even with additional snowfall. The lack of lower elevation snow could impact on the volume of early season runoff.”

Anderson, though said most of Northern Nevada’s basins are only 1-2 inches of snow water away from reaching a normal peak snowpack. He said the snow percentages in the four basins returned to near normal in mid-February, but during the second half of the month, dry weather returned. He said the March 1 percentages slipped to 82-92% of normal.

“These basins will be playing catch-up in March with a couple more significant storms needed to achieve a normal peak snow water amount,” he added.

The drought status indicates no drought in northwestern Nevada, while the west-central region of Churchill and Lyon counties show abnormally dry to moderate drought, and portions of Douglas indicate abnormally dry.

The drought monitor of extreme conditions tells a different story for Clark and Lincoln counties and for the southern half of Nye. Nearer to Lake Mead, the area shows exceptional drought.