Lahontan Basin Area Office’s Tom Scott Receives 2015 Federal Energy and Water Management Award

Written by: Lisa Navarro

L-R: Dr. Timothy Unruh, FEMP Program Director; Tom Scott, Reclamation’s LBAO; Olivia Ferriter, DOI Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget; Jeff Rieker, Reclamation MP Regional Liaison; Dr. David Danielson, Assistant Secretary of EEREOn October 14, 2015, Tom Scott with the Mid-Pacific Region’s Lahontan Basin Area Office received a 2015 Federal Energy and Water Management Award from the Department of Energy in Washington, DC. The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), which administers these awards, plays a central role in helping federal agencies reduce energy use. Tom received this award for his technical work supporting the negotiations, environmental compliance and implementation of the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA). TROA is a new river and reservoir operating agreement providing for flexible and efficient management of water in the Truckee and Carson River Basins in California and Nevada.

Following 18 years of negotiations, the TROA parties finally signed the agreement in 2008; however, legal challenges further delayed the implementation until its passage in October 2014. Throughout this period, Tom provided a critical leadership role in facilitating meetings between the TROA parties, as well as much-needed continuity over the long period between the congressional mandate for the TROA and its expected acceptance and implementation. Tom was instrumental in providing technical support for Reclamation in addressing many litigation and negotiation issues, as well as invaluable specialized assistance in leading Reclamation’s innovative computer modeling efforts to be used upon TROA implementation.

As a result of Tom’s efforts, some of the key benefits of TROA include providing storage for municipal water users such as the cities of Reno and Sparks. TROA will provide increased drought protection to the region through its advanced system of water exchanges and credit water storage in basin reservoirs, as well as enhanced operations for threatened and endangered species.

TROA is expected to be implemented by the end of 2015 or early 2016. Thanks in part to the 25-year effort provided by Tom, the basin will soon realize the flexible water resources operations that will enhance water supply sustainability for basin users, threatened and endangered fish and other environmental uses, especially during this drought.

Congratulations, Tom, for this landmark achievement!

Published on November 12, 2015