TRUCKEE-CARSON IRRIGATION DISTRICT (TCID)

The agent of the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) which serves the interests of the water-righted agricultural water users in the Newlands (Irrigation) Project, located in Churchill County, Nevada. The Newlands Project, originally named the Truckee-Carson Irrigation Project, was America's first federal reclamation project completed under the Reclamation Act of 1902. The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District has operated the Newlands Project since 1926 and is responsible for dispersing some 320,000 acre-feet of water from the Carson and Truckee rivers during normal water years. TCID is responsible for the operation of the Lake Tahoe Dam at the outlet to Lake Tahoe at Tahoe City in Placer County, California, Derby Dam on the lower Truckee River in Washoe County, Nevada, Lahontan Dam on the lower Carson River in Churchill County, Nevada, and, some six miles below Lahontan Dam, the Carson Diversion Dam which distributes the releases from Lahontan Reservoir into the project's principal "T" (T-Line) and "V" (V-Line) primary distribution canals. Within the Newlands Projects, there are 102 miles of main canals, 312 miles of irrigation laterals, an extensive system of private ditches, 345 miles of drainage ditches, and numerous diversion dams and regulating reservoirs. TCID offices are located in Fallon, Nevada (Churchill County), and its operations are managed by a Project Manager, a board of seven members, and approximately 50 full-time employees. In 1978 the USBR canceled the contract under which TCID had operated the project since 1926. The cancellation was in response to a refusal of the farmer-dominated organization to follow federal water conservation guidelines, or Operating Criteria and Procedures (OCAP). TCID has been operating under a temporary contract since 1984.