Truckee River

Coordinates: 39°51′27″N 119°26′53″W / 39.85750°N 119.44806°W / 39.85750; -119.44806
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the river that flows from Lake Tahoe through Truckee and Reno into Pyramid Lake. For the river that flows into Lake Tahoe, see Upper Truckee River.
Truckee River
Salmon Trout River
Sierra Nevada, California
 • coordinates39°10′3″N 120°8′39″W / 39.16750°N 120.14417°W / 39.16750; -120.14417[2]
 • elevation6,233 ft (1,900 m)[3]
USGS gage 10350000, Truckee River at Vista, NV[5]
 • average804 cu ft/s (22.8 m3/s)[5]
 • minimum7 cu ft/s (0.20 m3/s)
 • maximum17,400 cu ft/s (490 m3/s)

The Truckee River is a river in the U.S. states of California and Nevada. The river flows northeasterly and is 121 miles (195 km) long.[3][6] 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.

Naming of the river

A Northern Paiute word for the Truckee is Kuyuinahukwa. Kuyui- refers to the Cui-ui, a species of fish endemic to Pyramid Lake which is central to the lives of the Northern Paiute band called the Kuyui Dükadü (cui-ui-fish-eaters).[7]

In the

Pyramid Lake.[9] At the outlet at Lake Tahoe, there are multiple names as well. Dawbayódok is said to refer to the area when one is situated "on the down side" of the outlet, while Dawbayóduwé is used when one is "on the up side." Debeyúmewe, translated as "coming out," is less specific.[10]

When

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 Native American guide's services, the party named the river after him.[11] 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.[12]

Course and watershed

The Truckee River at Verdi, Nevada, when the Central Pacific Railroad reached the site in 1868
The Truckee River in Truckee, California, with Donner Creek flowing in from the right

The Truckee River's source is the outlet of

Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation.[13]

The Truckee River's

Prosser Creek Reservoir, and Martis Creek Reservoir.[14] In the Lower Watershed, Steamboat Creek, which drains Washoe Lake
, is the major tributary to the Truckee River.

River modifications

Aerial view from the south of the Truckee River where it drains to Pyramid Lake

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 rights, 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 instituted a diversion that removed river flows from the Truckee River watershed and transferred them to the Carson River watershed.[15] 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. 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 uses some of the water to induce spawning of the endangered fish cui-ui and to provide drought relief.

Ecology

Beavers were re-introduced to the Truckee River watershed and

Sierra Nevada.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25] Flooding from beaver dams is relatively inexpensively controlled with flow devices
.

Recreation

Rafting and tubing for recreation on the Truckee River in Reno Nevada USA on the 4th of July 2018
The headwaters of the Truckee River at Lake Tahoe Dam
The Truckee River near Truckee, California.

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 kayaking.[26]

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 (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 (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) and the rest are non-native Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).[27] The Truckee also boasts a healthy, self-sustaining non-native Brown trout (Salmo trutta) population.[27]

Hydrology and water quality

Because of the endangered species present and because the

biota. Impacts upon the receiving waters of Pyramid Lake
were also analyzed.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b John Charles Fremont (1847). Narrative of the exploring expedition to the Rocky mountains: in the year 1842, and to Oregon and north California in the years 1843–44. Hall & Dickson. p. 309. Retrieved 2010-12-13. salmon trout river.
  2. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Truckee River
  3. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed October 20, 2012
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-888035-03-2
    .
  5. ^
    USGS
    . Retrieved 4 August 2010.
  6. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9372(2009)135:8(636)
    .
  7. ^ Ginny Bengston (2002). Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone Land Use in Northern Nevada: A Class I Ethnographic/Ethnohistoric Overview (PDF). SWCA Environmental Consultants. pp. 6, 50. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  8. ^ Natalie E. Davenport (2019). Naming, Remembering, and Experiencing We’ lmelt’ iʔ [northern Washoe] Cultural Spaces in Wa she shu It Deh [Washoe Land] (PDF). ScholarWorks, University of Nevada, Reno. p. 235. Retrieved 2022-12-31. Ahwacoo watah, means "trout stream" (Lindström 1992a, 196 from Freed 1966; Nevers 1976, 4; Dixon, Schablitsky, and Novak 2011, 257). ... 'Át'abi wá't'a (d'Azevedo 1956, 57/#134) was also translated as "trout stream"(Lindström 1992a, 196; from Freed 1966).
  9. ^ Natalie E. Davenport (2019). Naming, Remembering, and Experiencing We’ lmelt’ iʔ [northern Washoe] Cultural Spaces in Wa she shu It Deh [Washoe Land] (PDF). ScholarWorks, University of Nevada, Reno. p. 304. Retrieved 2022-12-31. Freed (1966) and Nevers (1976) provided the Washoe name, Ahwacoo watah,"trout stream," for the segment of the Truckee River near Pyramid Lake
  10. ^ Natalie E. Davenport (2019). Naming, Remembering, and Experiencing We’ lmelt’ iʔ [northern Washoe] Cultural Spaces in Wa she shu It Deh [Washoe Land] (PDF). ScholarWorks, University of Nevada, Reno. p. 209. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
  11. ^ "Truckee River Chronology". State of Nevada Division of Water Resources. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  12. ^ Chief Truckee Archived 2012-10-28 at the Wayback Machine, Truckee–Donner Historical Society
  13. USGS topographic maps
  14. ^ David McGraw; Alan McKay; Guohong Duan; Thomas Bullard; Tim Minor; Jason Kuchnicki (July 2001). Water Quality Assessment and Modeling of the California Portion of the Truckee River Basin McGraw 2001 (PDF) (Report). Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
  15. ^ "Welcome to the TROA – Truckee River Operating Agreement". www.troa.net. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  16. ^ "The Washo Project Online Dictionary". Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  17. ^ A. L. Kroeber (1919). "30". Handbook of Indians of California. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  18. ^
    JSTOR 481206
    .
  19. ^ Jesse D. Mason (1881). History of Amador County. Oakland, California: Thompson & West. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
  20. ^ Tappe, Donald T. (1942). "The Status of Beavers in California" (PDF). Game Bulletin No. 3. California Department of Fish & Game: 14. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  21. ^ Theodore Henry Hittell (1861). The adventures of James Capen Adams: mountaineer and grizzly bear hunter, of California. Crosby, Nichols, Lee and company. p. 250. Retrieved 2011-12-24. salmon-trout.
  22. ^ James, C. D.; Lanman, R. B. (Spring 2012). "Novel physical evidence that beaver historically were native to the Sierra Nevada". California Fish and Game. 98 (2): 129–132.
  23. JSTOR 3797848
    .
  24. ^ Michael Benson Ayers (October 1997). Aerial Multispectral Videography for Vegetation Mapping and Assessment of Beaver Distribution within Selected Riparian Areas of the Lake Tahoe Basin (Thesis). University of Nevada at Reno. p. 71. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  25. hdl:2148/264
    .
  26. ^ "Whitewater Park". City of Reno. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
  27. ^ a b Tisdale, Kim. Telephone Interview. 29 June 2012
  28. Environmental Protection Agency
    Technology Series, Washington D.C. (1987)
  29. ^ 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.

External links

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