You had only to look at the Truckee River today to see how dry Western Nevada has become after 5 years of drought.
As predicted last week, streamflow in the Truckee has dropped dramatically..
Watermaster Garry Stone ran out of options.
the last source for maintaining streamflow available to him simply ran out. Water available to him from Boca Reservoir was exhausted. He said the effect on the river would be quite noticeable and it was.
Fall is usually a lean time for the Truckee, but this year has been exceptional. Lake Tahoe fell below its natural rim a week ago, then a few days later the available water from Boca Reservoir ran out. Flow rates along the river dropped by two-thirds.
There were more rocks and water here at Mayberry Park, but the flow here is being augmented by the upstream drought reserve owned by the Truckee Meadows Water Authority. It's headed for the water treatment plants and homes in the Truckee Meadows.
The flow drops even more further downstream at Fisherman's Park. The story gets ever worse below the Truckee Meadows.
In the lower Truckee the flow drops even further.
Flood debris left high on a railroad bridge shows just how much water once flowed through here, but the stream below is shallow and sluggish. The water here is a mix of irrigation and spring runoff, discharge from the Reno Sparks sewage treatment plant and release of upstream reserve owned by the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service. It doesn't add up to much. Taken as a whole the Truckee ecosystem is in trouble at the moment.
The potential for massive fish kills exists, but Wildlife officials say given a good winter, the Truckee fishery can be restored rather quickly. In the meantime the drought has given fishermen an unusual opportunity.
There are some big fish left in this river still and they are more accessible than they have been in many, many years."