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Truckee River Operating
Agreement (TROA)
1935 Truckee River
Agreement
TROA will replace the 1935 Truckee River Agreement that was
incorporated into the Orr Ditch Decree in 1944. Truckee-Carson Irrigation
District (TCID) has contracted with the Department of Interior USBR to operate
the Newlands Project since 1926. Truckee-Carson Irrigation District was a
signatory to the 1935 Truckee River Agreement but will not be allowed that right
with TROA. In the 1935 agreement, a Federal Master was appointed by the Court to
manage the storage and diversions on the Truckee River.
Floriston Rates (measured at a gauging station on the upper Truckee) are flow
rates that were established in the 1935 Agreement to protect the diversion
rights of downstream water right holders such as those in the Newlands Project.
TROA contemplates changing Floriston Rates as well as other functions of the
Court appointed Federal Water Master.
TROA is a
Storage Agreement
The mandatory signatories on TROA are the United States, Nevada,
California, the Pyramid Lake Tribe and the Truckee Meadows Water Authority
(formerly Sierra Pacific Power Company). Other affected parties will be allowed
to sign the document in what amounts to a "show of approval". This may only
serve to eliminate future mitigation of issues.
TROA will redefine storage agreements on the upper Truckee River and define
several new classes of storage rights. The basis for almost all of these
proposed storage and operations changes is the USBR operated Truckee River
computer model.
DOl contemplates that only parts of TROA need to be reviewed by the Orr Ditch
Court. The document is still being drafted and the EIS is nearing completion and
weighs over 50 pounds.
Effect on Newlands
Project
Decreasing Floriston Rates and changing the functions of the Court
appointed Federal Watermaster have the potential to undermine the security that
was built in to the 1935 Truckee River Agreement. There is an increased
potential for "regulatory droughts" as a result of competing upstream demand and
control of storage.
The computer modeling that TROA relies on to predict the proposed changes is
not reliable in the view of the Newlands Project interests including Churchill
County, TCID and the Newlands Water Protective Association. |
