Drought Prompts Reno To Tap Into Water Reserves

This year, the Truckee River will be the lowest it’s been in 20 years.

A water manager in the Reno area says the Truckee River is expected to be reduced to “just a trickle” in some places this year because of the drought.

The Truckee Meadows Water Authority’s Andy Gebhardt, says for the first time in 20 years, the agency will release “banked” water from Independence and Donner Lakes to keep the taps flowing.

“The river is going to drop out and in order to provide enough water for the community we have to release some of our water out of there and start using that," says Gebhardt.

Gebhardt says the authority plans for a maximum of 9 years of drought. This is the third year of the current drought.

The Authority is asking people to cut outdoor water use by 10 percent and it’s expanding mandatory no-watering times.

Gebhardt says more restrictions could be on the way.

“It depends on what is going to happen," says Gebhardt. "We just don’t know, it is a mother nature crap shoot.”