| Truckee River | |
|---|---|
 The Truckee River just east ofTruckee, California | |
 Map of the Pyramid Lake drainage basin | |
| Etymology | Named after thePaiute chiefTruckee |
| Native name |
|
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California,Nevada |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Lake Tahoe |
| • location | Sierra Nevada,California |
| • coordinates | 39°10′3″N120°8′39″W / 39.16750°N 120.14417°W /39.16750; -120.14417[2] |
| • elevation | 6,233 ft (1,900 m)[3] |
| Mouth | Pyramid Lake |
• location | Nevada |
• coordinates | 39°51′27″N119°26′53″W / 39.85750°N 119.44806°W /39.85750; -119.44806[2] |
• elevation | 3,793 ft (1,156 m)[2] |
| Length | 121 mi (195 km)[3] |
| Basin size | 3,060 sq mi (7,900 km2)[4] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | USGS gage 10350000, Truckee River at Vista, NV[5] |
| • average | 804 cu ft/s (22.8 m3/s)[5] |
| • minimum | 7 cu ft/s (0.20 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 17,400 cu ft/s (490 m3/s) |
TheTruckee River is ariver in theU.S. states ofCalifornia andNevada. The river flows northeasterly and is 121 miles (195 km) long.[3][6] The Truckee is the sole outlet ofLake Tahoe and drains part of the highSierra Nevada, emptying intoPyramid Lake in theGreat Basin. Its waters are an important source ofirrigation along its valley and adjacent valleys.
ANorthern Paiute word for the Truckee is Kuyuinahukwa. Kuyui- refers to theCui-ui, a species of fish endemic toPyramid Lake which is central to the lives of theNorthern Paiute band called the Kuyui Dükadü (cui-ui-fish-eaters).[7]
In theWasho language, different parts of the river have different names. Two names, ‘Át’abi wá’t’a and Á’waku wá’t’a translate to "trout stream."[8] The latter name refers to the river at and aroundPyramid 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]
WhenJohn C. Frémont andKit Carson ascended the Truckee River on January 16, 1844, they called it the Salmon Trout River,[1] after the hugeLahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) that ran up the river from Pyramid Lake to spawn. However, the river was ultimately named after aPaiute chief known asTruckee, who in 1844 guided an emigrant party from the headwaters of theHumboldt River to California via the Truckee River,Donner Lake, andDonner 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 perhapsTru-ki-zo, which could have become distorted as "Truckee". There are numerous other theories about Chief Truckee and his name.[12]
The Truckee River's source is the outlet ofLake Tahoe, at the dam on the northwest side of the lake nearTahoe City, California. It flows generally northeast through the mountains toTruckee, California, then turns sharply to the east and flows into Nevada, throughReno andSparks and along the northern end of theCarson Range. AtFernley it turns north, flowing along the east side of thePah Rah Range. It empties into the southern end of Pyramid Lake, a remnant of prehistoricLake Lahontan, in northernWashoe County in thePyramid Lake Indian Reservation.[13]
The Truckee River'sendorheicdrainage basin is about 3,060 square miles (7,900 km2), of which about 2,300 square miles (6,000 km2) are in Nevada.[4] The Middle Watershed is regarded as the 15 miles (24 km) of river and its tributaries from Tahoe City inPlacer County, through the Town of Truckee inNevada County, to the state line betweenSierra andWashoe counties. The major tributaries to the Truckee River in California from the Lake Tahoe outlet and heading downstream include:Bear Creek, Washeshu 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,Independence Lake (California), Webber Lake,Boca Reservoir,Stampede Reservoir,Prosser Creek Reservoir, and Martis Creek Reservoir.[14] In the Lower Watershed,Steamboat Creek, which drainsWashoe Lake, is the major tributary to the Truckee River.
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 ofwater 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, theNewlands Reclamation Act instituted a diversion that removed river flows from the Truckee River watershed and transferred them to the Carson River watershed.[15] Currently theTruckee–Carson Irrigation District supervises the diversion of approximately one-third of the river flow at theDerby Dam to theLahontan 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. TheU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uses some of the water to inducespawning of the endangered fishcui-ui and to provide drought relief.
Beavers were re-introduced to the Truckee River watershed andTahoe Basin by theCalifornia Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) and theU. 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 theWasho have a word for beaver,c'imhélhel[16][17] and thenorthern Paiute ofWalker Lake,Honey Lake andPyramid Lake have a word for beaversu-i'-tu-ti-kut'-teh.[18] WhenStephen Powers visited the northern Paiute to collect Indian materials for theSmithsonian Institution in preparation for theCentennial 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.[18] In addition, fur trapperStephen Hall Meek "set his traps on the Truckee River in 1833", which strongly suggests that he saw a beaver or beaver sign.[19] 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 inAlpine County until 1892 when they fell victim to heavy trapping.[20]James "Grizzly" Adams' also reports trapping beaver in the lowerCarson River around 1860, "In the evening we caught a fine lot of salmon-trout (Cutthroat trout), using grasshoppers for bait, and in the night killed half a dozen beavers, which were very tame."[21] Recent novel physical evidence of beaver's historic presence in the Sierra Nevada was the discovery of beaver dams dating to the 1850s inRed Clover Creek in theFeather River watershed.[22] 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 nearbySagehen Creek, which flows into theLittle Truckee River at an altitude of 5,800 feet (1,800 m) and is a stream typical of the eastern slope of the northernSierra Nevada.[23] Not only have aspen and cottonwood survived ongoing beaver colonization but a recent study of ten Tahoe streams utilizing aerial multispectral videography, includingTrout 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 nearbyTaylor Creek andWard Creek.[25] Flooding from beaver dams is relatively inexpensively controlled withflow devices.
The river is heavily used for recreation, includingwhitewater rafting andfly 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 forkayaking.[26]
The Truckee River is western Nevada's largest river. It supports a large sport fishing population each year. Kim Tisdale of theNevada 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 nativeLahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) and the rest are non-nativeRainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).[27] The Truckee also boasts a healthy, self-sustaining non-nativeBrown trout (Salmo trutta) population.[27]
Because of the endangered species present and because theLake 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 the direction of theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a comprehensive dynamichydrology transport model was developed by Earth Metrics Inc.[28] The model's name was subsequently changed toDSSAM, and it was applied to analyze land use, and wastewater management decisions throughout the Truckee River Basin of 3,120 square miles (8,081 km2) and to provide guidance in other U.S. river basins.[29] Analytes addressed includednitrogen, reactivephosphate,dissolved oxygen,total dissolved solids 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 associatedbiota. Impacts upon the receiving waters ofPyramid Lake were also analyzed. It is thought that dumping raw sewage into the Truckee River is a detriment to the water quality in several communities.
salmon trout river.
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).
Freed (1966) and Nevers (1976) provided the Washoe name, Ahwacoo watah,"trout stream," for the segment of the Truckee River near Pyramid Lake
salmon-trout.
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