#ICID #TerriEdwards #RagabRagab #FrankDimick #JaepilCho
The ICID Webinar on "Dividing the Waters: A History of Litigation in the Truckee River Basin and the Hope for the Future" was organized on 28 May 2021. The presenter, Ms. Terri Edwards is the Area Manager for the Lahontan Basin Area Office headquartered in Carson City, Nevada. Terri oversees the management of Bureau of Reclamation facilities located throughout northern Nevada and eastern California. Her responsibilities include management of a wide variety of water resource issues related to the Newlands Project – one of the first Reclamation projects – as well as the Truckee River Storage Project, Washoe Project and Humboldt Project.
The Truckee River is among the most litigated rivers in the United States. The history of litigation provides the background for current operations that are, at the moment, litigation free! This presentation provides an overview of decades of contentious litigation over the Truckee River system and focuses in on two Federal rules that have provided innovation in meeting the demands placed on the River - the Newlands Project Operating Criteria and Procedures (OCAP) and the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA).
In 1905, the United States completed construction of the Truckee Canal, one of the major facilities of the Newlands Project – an irrigation project meant to harness the water of the Truckee and Carson Rivers and now irrigates about 58,000 acres. The Truckee Canal allowed diversions from the Truckee River to the Carson River for use in the Newlands Project. Prior to 1967, diversions out of the Truckee River were limited only by the capacity of the facilities. These unlimited diversions contributed to the approximately 80-foot decline in the level of Pyramid Lake between 1900 and 1967. In response to court actions, various operating criteria were implemented until the 1988 and subsequently 1997 OCAP were put in place. We’ll talk about the aspects of OCAP that have allowed it to stand since 1997.
TROA was signed in 2008 and fully implemented late 2015. TROA allows for the fuller use of water rights to meet changing water usage and needs on the Truckee River while simultaneously protecting water rights that will continue to be used for irrigation. The provisions in TROA for sharing water, through the conversion of various categories of credit water into Fish Credit water for example, are pretty innovative and to date, successful. Both Federal Rules are solutions for dividing the waters to meet a diversity of needs and water uses.
