Truckee River
Encyclopedia
The Truckee River is a stream in the U.S. state
s of California
and Nevada
. The river is about 120 miles (193.1 km) long. Its endorheic drainage basin
is about 3060 square miles (7,925.4 km²), of which about 2300 square miles (5,957 km²) are in Nevada. The Truckee is the sole outlet of Lake Tahoe
and drains part of the high Sierra Nevada, emptying into Pyramid Lake in the Great Basin
. Its waters are an important source of irrigation
along its valley and adjacent valleys.
. It flows generally northwest through the mountains to Truckee, California
, then turns sharply to the east and flows into Nevada, through Reno
and Sparks
and along the northern end of the Carson Range
. At Fernley
it turns north, flowing along the east side of the Pah Rah Range
. It empties into the southern end of Pyramid Lake, a remnant of prehistoric Lake Lahontan
, in northern Washoe County
in the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation
.
and Kit Carson
ascended the Truckee River on January 16, 1844 they called it the Salmon Trout River, after the huge Lahontan cutthroat trout
(Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) that ran up the river from Pyramid Lake to spawn. However, the river was ultimately named after a Paiute
chief known as Truckee
who in 1844 guided an emigrant party from the headwaters of the Humboldt River
to California via the Truckee River, Donner Lake
, and Donner Pass
. Appreciative of their Indian guide's services the party named the river after him. The chief's real name might not have been Truckee, but perhaps Tru-ki-zo, which could have become distorted as "Truckee". There are numerous other theories about Chief Truckee and his name.
. Currently the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District
supervises the diversion of approximately one-third of the river flow at the Derby Dam
to the Lahontan Valley
to irrigate alfalfa and pastures. Its water is also supplied to the resort communities surrounding Lake Tahoe, the greater metropolitan area of Reno and Sparks, and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
uses some of the water to induce spawning
of the endangered fish cui-ui
and to provide drought relief.
Basin by the California Department of Fish and Game
(CDFG) and the U. S. Forest Service
between 1934 and 1949 in order to prevent stream degradation and to promote wetland restoration. That beaver were once native to the area is supported by the fact that the Washo have a word for beaver, c'imhélhel and the northern Paiute of Walker Lake
, Honey Lake
and Pyramid Lake have a word for beaver su-i'-tu-ti-kut'-teh. When Stephen Powers
visited the northern Paiute to collect Indian materials for the Smithsonian Institution
in preparation for the Centennial Exhibition of 1876
, he reported that the northern Paiute wrapped their hair in strips of beaver fur, made medicine from parts of beaver and that their creation legend included beaver. In addition, fur trapper Stephen Hall Meek
"set his traps on the Truckee River in 1833", which strongly suggests that he saw beaver or beaver sign. Supporting this line of evidence, Tappe records in 1941 an eyewitness who said beaver were plentiful on the upper part of the Carson River and its tributaries in Alpine County until 1892 when they fell victim to heavy trapping. The presence of beaver dams has been shown to either increase the number of fish, their size, or both, in a study of brook, rainbow and brown trout in nearby Sagehen Creek, which flows into the Little Truckee River
at an altitude of 5800 feet (1,767.8 m) and is a stream typical of the eastern slope of the northern Sierra Nevada. Not only have aspen and cottonwood survived ongoing beaver colonization but a recent study of ten Tahoe streams utilizing aerial multispectral videography, including Trout Creek
and Cold Creek, has shown that deciduous, thick and thin herbaceous vegetation has increased near beaver dams, whereas coniferous trees are decreased. Benefits of beaver dams include removal of sediment and excessive pollutants travelling downstream, which improves water clarity, which was shown to worsen when beaver dams were recently removed in nearby Taylor Creek and Ward Creek. Flooding from beaver dams is relatively inexpensively controlled with flow device
s.
The river is heavily used for recreation, including whitewater rafting and fly fishing
. A common rafting run is the River Ranch Run. Starting from the outlet gates at Lake Tahoe stretching about 3 miles (4.8 km), the run ends at the River Ranch Restaurant. These rapids are almost all class 1 and class 2. In downtown Reno the river has been sculpted into a half-mile Class 2/3 whitewater park, and is used mainly for kayak
ing.
, a comprehensive dynamic hydrology transport model was developed by Earth Metrics Inc. The model's name was subsequently changed to DSSAM
, and it was applied to analyze land use and wastewater management decisions throughout the Truckee River Basin of 3120 square miles (8,081 km²) and to provide guidance in other U.S. river basins. Analytes addressed included nitrogen
, reactive phosphate
, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids
and nine other parameters. Based upon use of the model, some decisions have been influenced to enhance riverine quality and aid the viability of associated biota
. Impacts upon the receiving waters of Pyramid Lake were also analyzed.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. The river is about 120 miles (193.1 km) long. Its endorheic drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
is about 3060 square miles (7,925.4 km²), of which about 2300 square miles (5,957 km²) are in Nevada. The Truckee is the sole outlet of Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
and drains part of the high Sierra Nevada, emptying into Pyramid Lake in the Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
. Its waters are an important source of irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
along its valley and adjacent valleys.
Course
The Truckee River's source is the outlet of Lake Tahoe, at the dam on the northwest side of the lake near Tahoe City, CaliforniaTahoe City, California
Tahoe City is an unincorporated community in Placer County, California. Tahoe City is located on Lake Tahoe, southeast of Donner Pass. It lies at an elevation of 6250 feet ....
. It flows generally northwest through the mountains to Truckee, California
Truckee, California
Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. The population was 16,180 at the 2010 census, up from 13,864 at the 2000 census.-Name:...
, then turns sharply to the east and flows into Nevada, through Reno
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
and Sparks
Sparks, Nevada
Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States, located east of Reno, Nevada. The 2010 U.S. Census Bureau population count was 90,264. Sparks is often referred to as half of a twin city .-Geography and Climate:...
and along the northern end of the Carson Range
Carson Range
The Carson Range is a spur of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California and western Nevada that starts at Luther Pass and West Carson Canyon and goes to the Truckee River...
. At Fernley
Fernley, Nevada
Fernley is a city in Lyon County, Nevada, United States, within Reno-Sparks-Lake Tahoe metropolitan. The city incorporated in 2001, including land in Washoe County; prior to that it was a census-designated place . The population of the CDP was 8,543 at the 2000 census; the city itself had an...
it turns north, flowing along the east side of the Pah Rah Range
Pah Rah Range
The Pah Rah Range is a mountain range located in western Nevada in the United States. It is a north-south running ridge, approximately long, and is wholly in Washoe County. It is bounded to the south and east by the Truckee River, to which its surface runoff from south and east slopes flow, and...
. It empties into the southern end of Pyramid Lake, a remnant of prehistoric Lake Lahontan
Lake Lahontan
Lake Lahontan was a large endorheic Pleistocene lake of modern northwestern Nevada that extended into northeastern California and southern Oregon...
, in northern Washoe County
Washoe County, Nevada
Washoe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. The population was 421,407 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County includes the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area.-History:...
in the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation
Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation
The Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation is a United States reservation in northwestern Nevada ~approximately northeast of Reno, in Washoe, Storey, and Lyon Counties. It lies almost entirely in Washoe County , with but tiny amounts of land in the other two counties . It is governed by the Pyramid Lake...
.
Naming of the river
When John C. FrémontJohn C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
and Kit Carson
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
ascended the Truckee River on January 16, 1844 they called it the Salmon Trout River, after the huge Lahontan cutthroat trout
Lahontan cutthroat trout
Lahontan cutthroat trout is the largest subspecies of cutthroat trout, and the state fish of Nevada.-Natural history:...
(Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) that ran up the river from Pyramid Lake to spawn. However, the river was ultimately named after a Paiute
Paiute
Paiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
chief known as Truckee
Truckee (chief)
Truckee was medicine chief of the Northern Paiute and an influential prophet.-Family life:...
who in 1844 guided an emigrant party from the headwaters of the Humboldt River
Humboldt River
The Humboldt River runs through northern Nevada in the western United States. At approximately long it is the second longest river in the Great Basin, after the Bear River. It has no outlet to the ocean, but instead empties into the Humboldt Sink...
to California via the Truckee River, Donner Lake
Donner Lake
Donner Lake is a freshwater lake in northeast California on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and about northwest of the much larger Lake Tahoe. A moraine serves as a natural dam for the lake. The lake is located in the town of Truckee, sandwiched between Interstate 80 to the north and...
, and Donner Pass
Donner Pass
Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, located above Donner Lake about nine miles west of Truckee, California. It has a steep approach from the east and a gradual approach from the west....
. Appreciative of their Indian guide's services the party named the river after him. The chief's real name might not have been Truckee, but perhaps Tru-ki-zo, which could have become distorted as "Truckee". There are numerous other theories about Chief Truckee and his name.
River modifications
Like many other rivers in the western United States, the Truckee's flow is highly regulated with most of the river water fully allocated via water rights. Disputes occur among those claiming the water. In the early 20th century, waters of the river were diverted as part of the Newlands Reclamation ActNewlands Reclamation Act
The Reclamation Act of 1902 is a United States federal law that funded irrigation projects for the arid lands of 20 states in the American West....
. Currently the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District
Truckee-Carson Irrigation District
The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District is a political subdivision of the State of Nevada, which operates dams at Lake Tahoe, on the Truckee River and Lake Lahontan as well as of canals and of drains in support of agriculture in Lyon County and Churchill County.Diversion of water by the TCID from...
supervises the diversion of approximately one-third of the river flow at the Derby Dam
Derby Dam
Derby Dam is a diversion dam on the Truckee River, located between Reno and Fernley in Storey and Washoe counties in the U.S. state of Nevada. It diverts water that would otherwise feed Pyramid Lake into the Carson River watershed for irrigation use. It is operated by the Truckee-Carson...
to the Lahontan Valley
Lahontan Valley
The Lahontan Valley is in Churchill County in the U.S. state of Nevada. The valley is a landform of the central portion of the prehistoric Lake Lahontan's lakebed of 20,000-9,000 years ago. The valley and the adjacent Carson Sink represent a small portion of the lake bed, and Humboldt Lake is to...
to irrigate alfalfa and pastures. Its water is also supplied to the resort communities surrounding Lake Tahoe, the greater metropolitan area of Reno and Sparks, and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
uses some of the water to induce spawning
Spawn (biology)
Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...
of the endangered fish cui-ui
Cui-ui
The cui-ui, Chasmistes cujus, is a large sucker fish endemic to Pyramid Lake and, prior to its desiccation in the 20th century, Winnemucca Lake in northwestern Nevada. It feeds primarily on zooplankton and possibly on nanoplankton...
and to provide drought relief.
Ecology
Beaver were re-introduced to the Truckee River watershed and TahoeLake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
Basin by the California Department of Fish and Game
California Department of Fish and Game
The California Department of Fish and Game is a department within the government of California, falling under its parent California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Game manages and protects the state's diverse fish, wildlife, plant resources, and native habitats...
(CDFG) and the U. S. Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
between 1934 and 1949 in order to prevent stream degradation and to promote wetland restoration. That beaver were once native to the area is supported by the fact that the Washo have a word for beaver, c'imhélhel and the northern Paiute of Walker Lake
Walker Lake (Nevada)
Walker Lake is a natural lake, 50.3 mi² in area, in the Great Basin in western Nevada in the United States. It is 18 mi long and 7 mi wide, located in northwestern Mineral County along the eastern side of the Wassuk Range, approximately 75 mi southeast of Reno...
, Honey Lake
Honey Lake
Honey Lake is an endorheic sink within the Honey Lake Valley located in northeastern California, near the Nevada border. Summer evaporation reduces the lake to a lower level of 12 km² and creates an alkali flat....
and Pyramid Lake have a word for beaver su-i'-tu-ti-kut'-teh. When Stephen Powers
Stephen Powers
*This article is about the 19th-century journalist and historian of California Indians.Stephen Powers was an American journalist, ethnographer, and historian of Native American tribes in California. He traveled extensively to study and learn about their cultures, and wrote notable accounts of them...
visited the northern Paiute to collect Indian materials for the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in preparation for the Centennial Exhibition of 1876
Centennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...
, he reported that the northern Paiute wrapped their hair in strips of beaver fur, made medicine from parts of beaver and that their creation legend included beaver. In addition, fur trapper Stephen Hall Meek
Stephen Meek
Stephen Hall Meek was a fur trapper and guide in the American west, most notably a guide on a large wagon train known as St. Joseph's Company...
"set his traps on the Truckee River in 1833", which strongly suggests that he saw beaver or beaver sign. Supporting this line of evidence, Tappe records in 1941 an eyewitness who said beaver were plentiful on the upper part of the Carson River and its tributaries in Alpine County until 1892 when they fell victim to heavy trapping. The presence of beaver dams has been shown to either increase the number of fish, their size, or both, in a study of brook, rainbow and brown trout in nearby Sagehen Creek, which flows into the Little Truckee River
Little Truckee River
The Little Truckee River is a river that is a tributary to its larger counterpart, the Truckee River, located in Nevada County in eastern California.-Description:...
at an altitude of 5800 feet (1,767.8 m) and is a stream typical of the eastern slope of the northern Sierra Nevada. Not only have aspen and cottonwood survived ongoing beaver colonization but a recent study of ten Tahoe streams utilizing aerial multispectral videography, including Trout Creek
Trout Creek (Lake Tahoe)
Trout Creek is a northward-flowing stream originating on the west side of Armstrong Pass on the Carson Range in El Dorado County, California, United States. It runs through the cities of .-History:...
and Cold Creek, has shown that deciduous, thick and thin herbaceous vegetation has increased near beaver dams, whereas coniferous trees are decreased. Benefits of beaver dams include removal of sediment and excessive pollutants travelling downstream, which improves water clarity, which was shown to worsen when beaver dams were recently removed in nearby Taylor Creek and Ward Creek. Flooding from beaver dams is relatively inexpensively controlled with flow device
Flow device
Flow devices are man-made solutions to beaver-related flooding problems. Traditional solutions have been focused on the trapping and removal of all the beavers in the area...
s.
Recreation
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...
. A common rafting run is the River Ranch Run. Starting from the outlet gates at Lake Tahoe stretching about 3 miles (4.8 km), the run ends at the River Ranch Restaurant. These rapids are almost all class 1 and class 2. In downtown Reno the river has been sculpted into a half-mile Class 2/3 whitewater park, and is used mainly for kayak
Kayak
A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
ing.
Hydrology and water quality
Because of the endangered species present and because the Lake Tahoe Basin comprises the headwaters of the Truckee River, the river has been the focus of several water quality investigations, the most detailed starting in the mid-1980s. Under direction of the U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyUnited States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
, a comprehensive dynamic hydrology transport model was developed by Earth Metrics Inc. The model's name was subsequently changed to DSSAM
DSSAM Model
The DSSAM Model is a computer simulation developed for the Truckee River to analyze water quality impacts from land use and wastewater management decisions in the Truckee River Basin. This area includes the cities of Reno and Sparks, Nevada as well as the Lake Tahoe Basin...
, and it was applied to analyze land use and wastewater management decisions throughout the Truckee River Basin of 3120 square miles (8,081 km²) and to provide guidance in other U.S. river basins. Analytes addressed included nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
, reactive phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...
, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved solids
Total dissolved solids
Total Dissolved Solids is a measure of the combined content of all inorganic and organic substances contained in a liquid in: molecular, ionized or micro-granular suspended form. Generally the operational definition is that the solids must be small enough to survive filtration through a sieve...
and nine other parameters. Based upon use of the model, some decisions have been influenced to enhance riverine quality and aid the viability of associated biota
Biota (ecology)
Biota are the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biota of the Earth lives in the biosphere.-See...
. Impacts upon the receiving waters of Pyramid Lake were also analyzed.
See also
- List of rivers of California
- List of rivers of Nevada
- List of rivers in the Great Basin
- Carson RiverCarson RiverThe Carson River is a northwestern Nevada river that empties into the Carson Sink, an endorheic basin. The main stem of the river is long....
- Beaver in the Sierra NevadaBeaver in the Sierra NevadaThe North American beaver had a historic range that overlapped the Sierra Nevada in California. Before the European colonization of the Americas, beaver were distributed from the arctic tundra to the deserts of northern Mexico...