Truckee Basin Study

Meetings & Information

The Truckee River Basin provides a vital source of water for more than 400,000 people in both California and Nevada. From its origins in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains at elevations over 10,000 feet, the Truckee River Basin encompasses an area of approximately 3,060 square miles in California and Nevada. While the greater portion of the Truckee River Basin's surface area, and certainly the majority of its demands for water resources, lie within the State of Nevada, most of the precipitation and virtually all of the basin's water storage lies within the State of California. This geographic imbalance between the basin's water supplies and its water demands has created conflicts surrounding the rights to, and the uses of, water resources within the Truckee River Basin.

In 2012, Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Region and four non-federal cost-share partners (Placer County Water Agency, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Truckee Meadows Water Authority, and Truckee River Flood Management Authority) launched the Truckee Basin Study through Reclamation’s Basin Study Program, funded by the SECURE Water Act.

The Truckee Basin Study will evaluate the range of potential changes in water demands due to factors such as a growing human population and compare those demands to existing reservoir storage and other supplies under potential future uncertainties, including climate change. Informed by this understanding, the Basin Study will develop and evaluate strategies for resolving the range of potential imbalances in supply and demand, and recommend adaptation strategies that best mitigate any negative impacts of climate change or other sources of uncertainty.

The Basin Study will specifically identify potential climate change impacts to the Truckee River basin which relate to agricultural and urban water supply and demand; hydroelectric power generation; recreation; fish, wildlife, and their habitats (including endangered species issues); water quality; flow and water dependent ecological systems. The Basin Study cost-share partners and Reclamation will engage stakeholders and the public at regular intervals and encourage wide participation in the study process.

 

Last Updated: 11/9/20