Record Snowpack means Summer Flooding for Northern Nevada

On the tails of the wettest winter on record for the Sierra Nevadas, counties in Nevada are bracing for the impact of snowmelt on local rivers and tributaries. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, storms from the 2016-2017 winter made it the wettest winter in a century of record-keeping for the Sierras with a total of 89.7 inches of precipitation recorded since October. This number breaks the record held by the 1982-1983 season that sat at 88.5 inches. Counties in both states have declared the end of drought as a result, but while the water will provide significant remedy to both the states of Nevada and California’s water supply many communities are also in a race against the heavy snowpack as it melts.

On April 13, 2017 Governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada hosted a 2017 Spring Flood Briefing to discuss the potentially devastating flooding that could impact communities in Northern Nevada as the record snowpack begins to melt into already full lakes and reservoirs. While many parts of Northern Nevada experienced flash flooding this 2016-2017 winter season as rivers and streams overflowed during powerful storms, this spring could bring a different risk by way of saturation flooding. As reported by the Reno-Gazette Journal in their April 13, 2017 article, record water levels put some places and communities in the Walker and Carson River Basins at risk as the melting rate quickens in the warmer season. Nearly 500 billion gallons of water are expected to flow into the already swollen Walker and Carson Rivers, toting potential for these rivers to be at record high levels well into the summer of 2017.

Water levels in the Lahontan Reservoir, near Fallon Nevada, already pose a threat to the Lahontan Valley before summer even begins; officials orchestrated a “Big Dig” project in which 17 miles of canal were built to divert the massive amount of water stored upstream from the Sierra Nevada snowpack. The project was built to prevent water from impacting homes and highways across the Fallon Desert in Churchill County. The canal is one of many emergency diversion projects in place throughout the region, projects dedicated to dramatically decreasing the risks for saturation flooding in the area.

Nevada residents can learn more information regarding potential flooding by viewing the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ flood briefing presentation here.