News - May 19, 2016 - by Ray Hagar

Despite recent snow and rain, the Truckee Meadows and Northern Nevada did not have a great Sierra snow pack year -- although the area's reservoirs are replenished, said Mark Foree, the general manager of the Truckee Meadows Water Authority.

"We had a good snow pack year. It was not a great snow pack year," Foree said Thursday on the Nevada Newsmakers TV show. "In a great snow pack year, we would be putting in a lot more water in Lake Tahoe."

Yet Foree is grateful for what Mother Nature and the El Nino weather pattern has produced for the area.
"It's been a while since we've had an average year, after four years of a really, really dismal snow pack," he said. "With the snow this year, everyone thought, 'Wow, there is a lot of snow.' But it turned out to be an average year."

It's been a good year, however, for reservoirs, he said.

"The other reservoirs on the Truckee River are in good shape," he said. "We have several that will fill and several of the smaller reservoirs that will fill. Stampede (Reservoir) will be about half full, which is a big improvement over last year."

Through the recent drought years, the TMWA did not have to tap into Independence Lake, which is the area's largest drought reserve with 17,500 acre feet of water, Foree said. It is located near Tahoe and is an excellent area for hiking, restricted boating and fishing. Walt Disney once pushed for the area to be developed into a ski resort, but that fizzled after Disney's death in 1966, according to published reports.

"That is our largest drought supply and we hold that in reserve and we don't use that unless we really need it," Foree said. "Even over these past four years, we have not had to tap Independence. That whole 17,500-acre feet is our largest drought reserve that we were able not to have to tap that last year. So we really hold that for when we need it in extreme droughts."

Surface water sources and storage provide between 85 and 95 percent of the TMWA water supply, according to TMWA's website. Surface water sources include Tahoe, Donner Lake, the Stampede and Boca reservoirs and Independence Lake.

Lake Tahoe, by far, is TWMA's largest surface-water source, with about 744,600 acre feet of storage. This year, Tahoe is again contributing water to the Truckee River, Foree said.

"The drought is the reason why Tahoe is so low," he said. "And today, Tahoe is about three-quarters-of-a foot above the natural rim. So we all know that when Tahoe is below the natural rim, no water is flowing into the Truckee River at Tahoe City.

"But we have water over the rim now and we have some water flowing into the Truckee River," he said.

Tahoe may not be done rising, Foree said.

"The water level at Tahoe could still rise this year, Foree said. "The level of Tahoe will probably get a little over one foot above the natural rim."