Commission hears 10‑year overview of Truckee River Operating Agreement and credit storage

The Northern Nevada Water Planning Commission received an informational presentation on Oct. 1 about the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA), its history and how TROA has affected regional storage and drought resilience since it was signed in 2015.

Commissioner Cara Steelen presented the overview, describing TROA as a framework that creates operational flexibility for storage and use while preserving existing water rights and interstate allocations. She summarized long‑running legal and operational background on the Truckee River, including references to the early 20th‑century agreements that established the Floriston rate and later regulation at the Tahoe Dam, the Settlement Act that required a new operating agreement, and TROA’s signing in 2015.

Steelen outlined several TROA concepts that affect municipal and environmental water management: the Floriston required rate of flow at the California‑Nevada state line, credit water types (including drought‑storage credit, fish credit, and other program credit waters), the role of the federal watermaster in administering those credits, and the agreement’s drought designation rules. She said the TROA drought designation permits parties to retain and carry forward credit water during drought years and that some non‑firm credit water converts to fish credit when a drought designation ends, benefiting downstream fisheries.

Steelen summarized storage results for municipal drought supplies: she described roughly 30,000 acre‑feet of drought storage in 2015, increases in subsequent years, and an increase in carried credit water during multi‑year dry periods that pushed upstream credit storage toward about 60,000 acre‑feet in 2022 before turning over when drought status ended. "TROA really creates operational flexibility, to allow for water storage and use while ensuring that existing water rights are preserved," she said.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions on how TROA interacts with municipal operations, groundwater use during low surface‑water periods, and how credit water types are tracked and administered. Commissioner John Flansberg said the agreement contributes to steadier river flows and improved river health, and praised the role of additional upstream storage and groundwater wells in regional supply reliability.

Steelen said parties continue to meet monthly with the federal watermaster for scheduling and hydrologic modeling and that TROA’s multi‑benefit approach supports municipal supply, fisheries, and recreation, while ratifying interstate allocation percentages referenced in the agreement.

No action was required on the presentation; commissioners framed the item as informational and thanked Steelen for the overview.