Truckee River Water Quality
--------------------------Legislative Committee to Oversee the Western
Regional Water Commission (S.B. 487, sec. 56)
February 25, 2008
Neil Mann, City of Reno
EXHIBIT E – WESTERN WATER
Document consists of 16 pages.
Entire Exhibit provided.
Meeting Date: 2-25-08
Wayne Seidel, City of Sparks
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Presentation Themes
• Truckee River Water Quality
• Truckee River Water Quantity
• Watershed Collaboration
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Way Back in History
Reclamation Act of 1902
Newlands Project Goal - Irrigate more than
400,000 acres of land in western Nevada using
the Truckee and Carson Rivers.
March 14, 1903 - Secretary of the Interior
authorized the Truckee-Carson Project,
making it one of the first reclamation projects
approved for construction.
Nevada Senator Francis G. Newlands
1913 Water Rights issues unsettled, 30 years
later resolved as the Orr Ditch Decree.
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Growth in the Truckee Watershed
• Centralized Sewer Systems and Wastewater
Treatment Plants
• Expansion of drinking water from surface and
groundwater sources
• Development of irrigation water diversions
• Flood control projects
• Stormwater systems
• Downstream impacts and issues
4
Recent History
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Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF) was
started in 1963
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Water Quality Based River Criteria for wastewater discharges began
to evolve in the early 1990’s
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Regional Stormwater Program national permit requirements (1990)
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Truckee River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) established for
nitrogen, phosphorus, and total dissolved solids in 1994
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TROA process involving many agencies to address existing and
future Truckee River allocations and drought storage
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Water Quality and Quantity Tools
• “State of the Art” treatment plants (TMWRF and TTSA)
• PL 101-618 which allows water right transfers to
augment instream flows
• Storage opportunities to augment instream flows
• Intra-agency working groups
• Financial grants and agency contributions for
river restoration projects
• Collaborative watershed management
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Truckee Meadows Water
Reclamation Facility
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The Nature Conservancy at Work
McCarran Ranch Restoration
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Water Quality and Quantity
Successes
• Water Quality Settlement Agreement - $24
million for in-stream water rights
• River restoration projects like McCarran Ranch
• Water rights purchases – instream flows
• Truckee River Flood Project – Living River Plan
• Regional Stormwater Committee work
• 6,700 AF of in-stream water rights through
TROA
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Water Quality and Quantity
Constraints
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Seasonal flow depletion in the river
Suitability of the existing river TMDL
TMWRF discharge permit reviews
Stormwater discharge permit reviews
Clean Water Act
River return flow requirements
Water right transfer ratios
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WRWC Coordination and
Management Activities
– Water Supply
– Wastewater Systems
– Reclaimed Water
– Water Quality
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Water Supply
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Planning for the future
Distribution systems
Wholesale providers
Resource acquisition
Conservation programs
Conjunctive use opportunities
Resource sharing plans
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Wastewater Systems
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Coordinated facilities planning
TMDL 3rd Party review
Regulatory issues and negotiations
Downstream interests
Watershed focus
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Reclaimed Water
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Regional reclaimed system
Regulatory constraints
Operational considerations
Quality of reclaimed water
Link to conservation element
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Water Quality
• Watershed Based Programs:
– Future TMDL’s and review processes
– NPDES Stormwater Program elements
– Agreements on instream flow goals
– Tribal Water Quality Control Plan
– Future Watershed Focus
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Water Quality and Quantity
Opportunities through WRWC
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Unified decision making
Round-table for addressing issues
Forum to enable larger area discussions
Capacity to implement change
Community based watershed solutions
that meet regulatory requirements
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