Residents breathe easier as lake levels recede

Plywood boards erected across the top of the dam once the reservoir filled after seven dry years have let it top out well above the 295,000 acre-feet it was designed to hold.

It topped out at just over 315,000 acre-feet last week, then began to drop, although it was expected to remain above the lip of the dam into early August.

The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District said typical releases to Newlands Project farmers and ranchers would gradually reduce the reservoir's level without producing high water in flood-prone areas that have had to sandbag in the last two wet years.

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