TRUCKEE RIVER AGREEMENT (NEVADA AND CALIFORNIA)

The Truckee River Agreement (1935) represents the current basis for the operation of the Truckee River, including its tributaries and diversions, between its source (Lake Tahoe) and its terminus (Pyramid Lake). Parties to this agreement include the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District (TCID), serving the irrigation rights of agricultural water users of the Newlands (Irrigation) Project (Nevada) in Churchill County, Nevada, Sierra Pacific Power Company (SPPCo), serving primarily the municipal and industrial water needs of the cities of Reno and Sparks, Nevada, and the Washoe County Water Conservation District (WCWCD), serving the agricultural water users in the Truckee Meadows. Operation of upstream reservoirs is under the supervision of the Federal Water Master, who administers court-imposed requirements under the Orr Ditch Decree (Nevada and California) to supply water to achieve Floriston Rates (California) (mandated river flow rates) at the California-Nevada border. The 1944 Orr Ditch Decree, which incorporates the Truckee River Agreement, affirmed numerous individual water rights (both municipal and industrial and agricultural), including Truckee River diversion rights earlier than 1939. The Truckee River Agreement provides for operation of storage facilities, especially Lake Tahoe, to satisfy these rights and required the building of Boca Dam and Reservoir. The agreement further contains language intended to settle the disputes over pumping Lake Tahoe by: (1) Establishing the natural conditions in the bed and banks of Lake Tahoe and of the Truckee River near Tahoe City, Placer County, California, and prohibiting any alteration of such natural conditions without the approval of the Attorney General of the State of California, and, in fact, allowing parties to the agreement the right to restore these areas to their natural condition, as necessary; (2) Prohibiting the creation of any other outlet of Lake Tahoe in addition to the present and natural outlet at the head of the Truckee River; (3) Prohibiting the removal of water from Lake Tahoe for irrigation or power uses by any means other than gravity except upon the declaration of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior; and (4) Prohibiting the removal of water from Lake Tahoe for sanitary or domestic uses by any means other than gravity, except upon the condition that the Departments of Health of the States of Nevada and California, or other officers exercising similar authority, shall first have made and filed with the Attorney General of the State of Nevada and the Attorney General of the State of California certificates showing that a necessity for such pumping of Lake Tahoe exists.