Truckee River
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The Truckee River is a
river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
s of
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
. The river flows northeasterly and is long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed October 20, 2012
The Truckee is the sole outlet of
Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...
and drains part of the high
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
, emptying into Pyramid Lake in the
Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...
. Its waters are an important source of
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
along its valley and adjacent valleys.


Naming of the river

When
John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...
and
Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and n ...
ascended the Truckee River on January 16, 1844, they called it the Salmon Trout River, after the huge
Lahontan cutthroat trout Lahontan cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi'') is the largest subspecies of cutthroat trout, and the state fish of Nevada. It is one of three subspecies of cutthroat trout that are listed as federally threatened. 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 (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pai ...
chief known as Truckee, who in 1844 guided an emigrant party from the headwaters of the
Humboldt River The Humboldt River is an extensive river drainage system located in north-central Nevada. It extends in a general east-to-west direction from its headwaters in the Jarbidge, Independence, and Ruby Mountains in Elko County, to its terminus in the ...
to California via the Truckee River,
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, be ...
, and
Donner Pass Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, above Donner Lake and Donner Memorial State Park about west of Truckee, California. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual appro ...
. Appreciative of their Native American 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.


Course and watershed

The Truckee River's source is the outlet of
Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...
, at the dam on the northwest side of the lake near
Tahoe City, California Tahoe City (formerly Tahoe) is an unincorporated town in Placer County, California. Tahoe City is located on the shore of Lake Tahoe, at the outlet of the Truckee River. The site was surveyed in 1863, and Tahoe House was built in 1864. The Taho ...
. It flows generally northeast through the mountains to
Truckee, California Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, reflecting an increase of 2,316 from the 13,864 counted in the 2000 Census and having the 316th highe ...
, then turns sharply to the east and flows into Nevada, through
Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
and Sparks and along the northern end of the
Carson Range The Carson Range is a spur of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California and western Nevada that starts at Carson Pass and stretches north to the Truckee River near Verdi, Nevada. Geography The mountain range is about 50 miles (80 km) long a ...
. At Fernley it turns north, flowing along the east side of the
Pah Rah Range The Pah Rah Range is a mountain range located in western Nevada in Washoe County just to the northeast of Reno. It is a hook shaped range with the main eastern portion oriented northwest–southeast, approximately long. The northwest flowing Co ...
. It empties into the southern end of Pyramid Lake, a remnant of prehistoric
Lake Lahontan Lake Lahontan was a large endorheic Pleistocene lake of modern northwestern Nevada that extended into northeastern California and southern Oregon. The area of the former lake is a large portion of the Great Basin that borders the Sacramento Rive ...
, in northern Washoe County in the
Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation is a United States reservation in northwestern Nevada, approximately northeast of Reno, in Washoe, Storey, and Lyon counties. It is governed by the federally recognized Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, wh ...
.
USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...
topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...
s
The Truckee River's
endorheic An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...
drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
is about , of which about are in Nevada. The Middle Watershed is regarded as the of river and its tributaries from Tahoe City in
Placer County Placer County ( ; Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn. Placer County is included in the Great ...
, through the Town of Truckee in Nevada County, to the state line between Sierra and Washoe counties. The major tributaries to the Truckee River in California from the Lake Tahoe outlet and heading downstream include: Bear Creek, Squaw Creek, Cabin Creek, Pole Creek, Donner Creek, Trout Creek, Martis Creek, Prosser Creek, the Little Truckee River, Gray Creek, and Bronco Creek. Major lakes and reservoirs in the California part of the watershed include Lake Tahoe,
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, be ...
,
Independence Lake (California) Independence Lake is a natural glacial lake in the Sierra Nevada of California. At an elevation of in the upper reaches of the Truckee River basin, it has been less affected by development than most lakes in the area. The Nature Conservancy ow ...
, Webber Lake,
Boca Reservoir Boca Reservoir is an artificial lake in Nevada County, California, United States, located in the perimeter covered by Tahoe National Forest. It was created by the construction of Boca Dam across Little Truckee River, approximately 10 km ...
, Stampede Reservoir, Prosser Creek Reservoir, and Martis Creek Reservoir. In the Lower Watershed, Steamboat Creek, which drains
Washoe Lake Washoe Lake ( Washo: c'óʔyaʔ dáʔaw) is a lake located near Carson City in the Washoe Valley of Washoe County, Nevada. It is a very shallow lake with a surface area that can vary greatly from year to year. Washoe Lake State Park sits on th ...
, is the major tributary to the Truckee River.


River modifications

Like many other rivers in the western United States, the Truckee's flow is highly regulated, with most river flow fully allocated through a system of
water right Water right in water law refers to the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious ...
s, set in 2015 by the Truckee River Operating Agreement. This system over-allocates available water during low flow periods. Disputes occur among those asserting rights to the water. In the early 20th century, the
Newlands Reclamation Act The Reclamation Act (also known as the Lowlands Reclamation Act or National 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. The act at first covere ...
instituted a diversion that removed river flows from the Truckee River watershed and transferred them to the Carson River watershed. Currently the Truckee–Carson Irrigation District supervises the diversion of approximately one-third of the river flow at the
Derby Dam Derby Dam is a diversion dam built from 1903 to 1905 on the Truckee River, located about east of Reno in Storey and Washoe counties in Nevada, United States. It diverts water into the Truckee Canal that would otherwise enter Pyramid Lake. T ...
to the
Lahontan Valley The Lahontan Valley is a basin in Churchill County, Nevada, United States. 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 ...
to irrigate alfalfa and pastures. Truckee River 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 The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
uses some of the water to induce
spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...
of the endangered fish
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 (such as a ...
and to provide drought relief.


Ecology

Beavers were re-introduced to the Truckee River watershed and Tahoe Basin by the
California Department of Fish and Game The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is a state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages and protect ...
(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 Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...
of
Walker Lake Several lakes are known as Walker Lake: Canada *Lake Walker in Quebec, Canada, the largest (by depth) lake in the province. United States

*Walker Lake (Haines, Alaska) *Walker Lake (Northwest Arctic, Alaska) *Walker Lake (Prince of Wales-Outer ...
,
Honey Lake Honey Lake is an endorheic basin, endorheic sink (geography), sink in the Honey Lake Valley in northeastern California, near the Nevada border. Summer evaporation reduces the lake to a lower level of and creates an alkali flat. Honey Lake dries ...
and Pyramid Lake have a word for beaver ''su-i'-tu-ti-kut'-teh''. When
Stephen Powers Stephen Powers (1840–1904) 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. His articles we ...
visited the northern Paiute to collect Indian materials for the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
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 a beaver or beaver sign. Supporting this line of evidence, Tappe records in 1941 an eyewitness who said beaver were plentiful on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada on the upper part of the Carson River and its tributaries in
Alpine County , other_name = , settlement_type = List of counties in California, County , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Alpine County, California.svg , flag_size = , image_seal ...
until 1892 when they fell victim to heavy trapping. James "Grizzly" Adams' also reports trapping beaver in the lower
Carson River The Carson River is a northwestern List of Nevada rivers, Nevada river that empties into the Carson Sink, an endorheic basin. The main stem of the river is long although the addition of the East Fork makes the total length , traversing five co ...
around 1860, "In the evening we caught a fine lot of salmon-trout (
Cutthroat trout The cutthroat trout is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus '' Oncorhynchus'', it is one of the Pacific tro ...
), using grasshoppers for bait, and in the night killed half a dozen beavers, which were very tame." Recent novel physical evidence of beaver's historic presence in the Sierra Nevada was the discovery of beaver dams dating to the 1850s in Red Clover Creek in the
Feather River The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over . The main stem Feather R ...
watershed. 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 Sage-grouse are grouse belonging to the bird genus ''Centrocercus.'' The genus includes two species: the Gunnison grouse (''Centrocercus minimus'') and the greater sage-grouse (''Centrocercus urophasianus''). These birds are distributed throug ...
, which flows into the
Little Truckee River The Little Truckee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 17, 2011 river that is a tributary to its larger counterpart, the Truckee River, located in Nevada Cou ...
at an altitude of and is a stream typical of the eastern slope of the northern
Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
. 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 devices.


Recreation

The river is heavily used for recreation, including
whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...
and
fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...
. A common rafting run is the River Ranch Run. Starting from the outlet gates at Lake Tahoe stretching about , 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 A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...
ing. The Truckee River is western Nevada's largest river. It supports a large sport fishing population each year. Kim Tisdale of the
Nevada Department of Wildlife The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) is the state agency responsible for the restoration and management of fish and wildlife resources, and the promotion of boating safety on Nevada’s waters. NDOW has responsibility for the wildlife resour ...
(NDOW), is the state's Western Regions Fishery Supervisor; she commented that NDOW's goal is for a catch rate of one to two fish per hour in the Truckee. To accomplish this, NDOW stocks a total of 105,000 trout per year. 70,000 of those are native
Lahontan cutthroat trout Lahontan cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi'') is the largest subspecies of cutthroat trout, and the state fish of Nevada. It is one of three subspecies of cutthroat trout that are listed as federally threatened. Natural history ...
(''Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi'') and the rest are non-native
Rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...
(''Oncorhynchus mykiss'').Tisdale, Kim. Telephone Interview. 29 June 2012 The Truckee also boasts a healthy, self-sustaining non-native
Brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...
(''Salmo trutta'') population.


Hydrology and water quality

Because of the endangered species present and because the
Lake Tahoe Basin Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake ...
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 the direction of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon pro ...
, a comprehensive dynamic
hydrology transport model An hydrological transport model is a mathematical model used to simulate the flow of rivers, streams, groundwater movement or drainage front displacement, and calculate water quality parameters. These models generally came into use in the 1960s a ...
was developed by Earth Metrics Inc. The model's name was subsequently changed to
DSSAM The DSSAM Model (Dynamic Stream Simulation and Assessment 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 inc ...
, and it was applied to analyze land use, and wastewater management decisions throughout the Truckee River Basin of and to provide guidance in other U.S. river basins.USEPA. 1991. Guidance for water quality-based decisions: The TMDL process. EPA 440/4-91-001. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water, Washington, DC. Analytes addressed included
nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
, reactive
phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...
,
dissolved oxygen Oxygen saturation (symbol SO2) is a relative measure of the concentration of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium as a proportion of the maximal concentration that can be dissolved in that medium at the given temperature. It ca ...
,
total dissolved solids Total dissolved solids (TDS) is a measure of the dissolved combined content of all inorganic and organic substances present in a liquid in molecular, ionized, or micro-granular ( colloidal sol) suspended form. TDS concentrations are often repor ...
and nine other parameters. Based on the 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.


See also

*
List of rivers of California This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of California, grouped by region. Major lakes and reservoirs, if applicable, are indicated in italics. North Coast (north of Humboldt Bay) Rivers and streams between the Oregon border and Humboldt Bay th ...
*
List of rivers of Nevada List of rivers of Nevada (U.S. state). By drainage basin This list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger stream's name. Great Basin * Amargosa River *Carson River *Humboldt River ** Little Humboldt ...
*
List of rivers in the Great Basin The list of rivers of the Great Basin identifies waterways named as rivers, regardless of the amount of their flow. __TOC__ Significant rivers The Great Basin is a series of contiguous watersheds, bounded on the west by watersheds of the ...
*
Upper Truckee River The Upper Truckee River is a stream that flows northward from the western slope of Red Lake Peak in Alpine County, California to Lake Tahoe via the Truckee Marsh in South Lake Tahoe, California. The river flows northeasterly and is long.U.S. Ge ...
*
Carson River The Carson River is a northwestern List of Nevada rivers, Nevada river that empties into the Carson Sink, an endorheic basin. The main stem of the river is long although the addition of the East Fork makes the total length , traversing five co ...
*
Beaver in the Sierra Nevada The North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') 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 ...


References


External links


Truckee River Flows, Stages and Forecasts

Reno Gazette-Journal Special Report on the Truckee River

Truckee River Watershed Council

Tahoe Institute for Natural Science
{{Authority control Rivers of the Sierra Nevada in Nevada Rivers of the Sierra Nevada in California Rivers of the Great Basin Rivers of Placer County, California Rivers of El Dorado County, California Lake Tahoe Reno, Nevada Sparks, Nevada Truckee, California Rivers of Northern California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Rivers of Storey County, Nevada Rivers of Washoe County, Nevada Paiute