Reservoir nears capacity for another year

"Virtually all of our most popular beaches will see a loss of space for our customers," Park Supervisor Keith Penner said.

The reservoir is nearing 280,000 acre-feet on the way to its official 295,000 acre-foot capacity. Another 280,000 acre-feet of runoff is anticipated, Penner said.

While the recent rains have swollen the Carson River, it still has not reached its expected peak runoff flow of 3,600 cubic feet per second. Once the current subsides, storage will be increased to 315,000 acre-feet, using the flash boards installed on top of Lahontan Dam.

That will put water over some campgrounds on the Lyon County side of the lake, while most of the areas on the Churchill County side will be accessible, but with little or no beach, Penner said.

Water also may run over access roads to beaches, but park officials told the Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard most should remain accessible and there usually are secondary roads.

Storage in the reservoir is a balancing act between maintaining a cushion at or below the official capacity in case there's a sudden runoff while stockpiling as much water as possible behind the dam for carryover in case next winter is a dry one after four wet ones.

Precautionary releases of water into the lower Carson River from the dam are continuing at 787 cfs. This month's rain has reduced irrigation demands in the Newlands Project to 300 cfs, according to Truckee-Carson Irrigation District engineer Dave Overvold.

If the current cool, damp weather continues, Overvold said the district may resume water spreading.

When there's an abundance of storage, as there was in May, the Bureau of Reclamation allows the district to give away irrigation water instead of charging for it to keep up with runoff while avoiding problems in the flood-prone areas along the lower Carson.

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