Water is indeed a precious natural resource in the arid West. With that perspective it should come as no surprise that water-rights issues on Lake Tahoe and the Truckee River have triggered controversy, fights, and negotiation since pioneers first settled the region.

Tahoe Dam
In the late 1860s, engineer Alexis von Schmidt constructed a small dam a short distance down the Truckee River below Tahoe City. The dam was to create water storage for Von Schmidt's proposed "grand aqueduct" to San Francisco.

The rock-filled timber crib dam raised the level of the lake, but Von Schmidt's project fizzled due to suspicion of its financial cost by San Francisco residents, as well as fierce local resistance in Truckee and western Nevada.

Lake Tahoe Shoreline Flooding
The Tahoe dam, as it was called, caused trouble from the start. Water impounded for log fluming caused flooding along shoreline owned by politically influential, lakefront property owners.

The original dam was later enlarged when the Truckee River General Electric Company acquired ownership of the dam to provide a steady, year-round water source for hydroelectric power plants along the river. Based on this seemingly reliable and inexpensive energy source, entrepreneurs built processing and manufacturing plants along the Truckee River.

Nevada Brings in the Feds
In 1890 a well-connected attorney and soon to be Nevada congressman, Francis G. Newlands, proposed a network of reservoirs in the Sierra to serve the future development of the Silver State. According to Newlands, Tahoe afforded the "cheapest reservoir space in the West."

Newlands sponsored a measure through which the federal government would provide water for irrigation in arid regions throughout the West. After passage of the Reclamation Act, the Department of the Interior notified California and Nevada officials that the federal government would be assuming the right to control the water stored in Lake Tahoe behind the dam.

Making the Dessert Bloom
In 1903 the first major effort under the Reclamation Act, the Federal Newlands Reclamation Project, broke ground in western Nevada to divert Truckee River water. The goal was to transform Lahontan Valley desert into farmland.

Unfortunately, the engineers who planned the Newlands Irrigation Project miscalculated and overestimated the reliability of the Truckee River water supply. Highly erratic periods of precipitation and river flows combined with limited upstream storage failed to accommodate extreme periods of drought. Angry farmers who had been lured to the project rebelled over water shortages during the growing season on their farms.

Whoops: Pyramid Lake Drops 67 Feet
To address concerns by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe located below the Derby Dam, a U.S. government treaty promised the Paiute Indians enough water to maintain their historic fishery at the mouth of the river. Despite these assurances, the Derby Dam cut water flow into Pyramid Lake by half. By 1967 Pyramid Lake had dropped 87 feet, which prevented the endangered cui-ui fish and threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout from migrating upstream to spawn.

Snow Pack Calculations Start
In order to better forecast and control the seasonal fluctuations at Lake Tahoe, University of Nevada professor Dr. James E. Church developed a snow survey system which measured water content in the Tahoe Basin snow pack. A good correlation was found between the late March water equivalent in the snow pack and the spring rise in the lake.

The first practical application of Church's snow surveys enabled Tahoe dam operators to better regulate releases to prevent both flooding and waste of water, which helped to temporarily tone down the conflict between lakefront property owners, the power company, and others.

Dr. Church is credited with ending the Tahoe water war, but adequately controlling the lake's elevation is an on-going challenge. A major obstacle to successfully managing Tahoe as a reservoir is that engineers have compressed its broad natural variations into a narrow six-foot limit. When the lake's water level falls to 6,223 feet mean sea level, it stops feeding the Truckee River. Federal law prohibits storage of water in Lake Tahoe above 6,229.1 feet, which is the limit decreed in the 1935 Truckee River Agreement. Note: The lake was just two tenths of a foot from the 6,229.1 maximum on Father's Day weekend 2006. It must have been a tense time around the Water Master's office in Reno. Such times will come again, global warming or not.

Looking Ahead - The Big Picture
It is sheer hubris to think that in our erratic western climate, which swings between desiccating drought and heavy wet winters, Lake Tahoe can be kept in perfect equilibrium to satisfy all users. History has proven otherwise.

Long-term droughts have dropped the lake well below the natural rim, rendering the reservoir useless for extended periods of time, while powerful storms and wet-mantle floods (rain-on-snow) have forced the release of Tahoe water into an already swollen Truckee River, aggravating existing flood conditions. Indicative of our region's climatic volatility, 20 major floods have occurred on the Truckee River in the last 150 years.

History: Dry Truckee River
During severe drought in the 1920s and 1930s, Lake Tahoe fell below its rim (6,223') eight years in a row and the Truckee River dried up. To satisfy downstream water demand, large pumps were installed near the Tahoe Dam.

Over several years, more than 117,000 acre-feet of water were sucked from the lake and into the Truckee River. Newspapers reported that Tahoe residents were intent on sabotaging the pumps. Armed confrontations were barely averted between Tahoe residents and hired hands doing the bidding of farmers in Fallon, Nevada.

Lake Rose to 6,235 Feet!
There were plenty of skeptics when the U.S. government made its decision to convert the huge lake into a controlled reservoir with six feet of storage on top. Pioneers like George Peckham, who moved to Nevada in 1864, two years after the great January flood of 1862, pointed to eyewitness testimony by teamsters (wagon drivers). The men were stranded near Tahoe at the time (1862) that the lake level rose to approximately 6,235 feet. And that was before a dam was in place at the outlet.

Peckham stated that the natural variation of Lake Tahoe was closer to 15 feet, not six. He wrote that a margin of six feet "is entirely inadequate to take care of the surplus water from the watershed of Tahoe during the flood years... or to furnish enough water during the dry periods."

Real Range of Tahoe Water is Eleven Feet, Not Six
The prescient Peckham was spitting into the wind as far as the government was concerned, but a quick review of Lake Tahoe elevation data shows that he was right. A comparison of the lake's highest and lowest water levels measured over the last century reveal a range of eleven feet. The highest level on record is 6,231 feet in July 1907, with the lowest reading of 6,220 feet measured in November 1992.

Managing the Lake Level
As a rule Lake Tahoe's elevation is kept as high as possible to offset the constant fear of drought and threat of insufficient water supplies for downstream users. Ironically, it the same downstream users who want Tahoe's water maintained at high levels in case of drought are the ones who suffer most when the Truckee River overflows its banks. A $650 million flood event occurred as recently as January 1997.


Heavy rain in December 1996 raised the lake over its maximum legal level, which forced Federal Water Master Garry Stone to open all 17 gates of the Lake Tahoe Dam. This released 2,630 cubic feet per second into the raging Truckee River. Western Nevada, and especially Reno and Sparks, were inundated.

The media called the '97 flood an act of God, but at the peak of the flood it is estimated that nearly 45 percent of the water flowing through downtown Reno was coming from Lake Tahoe through gates kept open by an archaic government water policy.

The Water Master
The Water Master's duty is to administer the most recently ratified federal court decrees with regard to the Truckee River and the Carson River. The original purpose of the Tahoe dam and the management of Lake Tahoe was to store water for the agricultural industry in Fallon, not to protect fish, wildlife, property, or the environment.

Under the current Truckee River Compact, Lake Tahoe's operating goal is to provide as much water to the downstream users as possible without causing shoreline damage along Lake Tahoe. Flood control is not provided for under the decree. The Water Master is required by law to release as much water as possible whenever the lake nears the 6,229.1 maximum elevation mark, regardless of hydrologic conditions downstream.

An updated and more comprehensive Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA) started through the review/political process in 2005. The TROA would modify existing operations of all designated reservoirs to enhance coordination and flexibility, while ensuring that existing water rights are served and flood control and safety requirements are met.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, TROA would, in part, (1) enhance conditions for the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout and endangered cui-ui in the Truckee River basin; (2) increase municipal and industrial drought protection for Truckee Meadows (Reno-Sparks metropolitan area); (3) improve Truckee River water quality downstream from Sparks, Nevada; and (4) enhance stream flows and recreational opportunities in the Truckee River Basin.

The anticipated TROA is a much-needed update for better management of the Lake Tahoe-Truckee River hydrologic basin. If adopted, whether it will put an end to the ongoing Tahoe water war controversy, is far from clear.


Editor's Note: Mark McLaughlin is a Tahoe Historian who can be reached at mark@thestormking.com.