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Carson River 30-year study: officials warn of earlier runoff, growing variability and tighter groundwater–surfacewater balance
Summary
Carson Water Subconservancy District officials told Lyon County commissioners the Carson River watershed is showing long-term declines in flow and greater year-to-year variability, with runoff shifting earlier in the year and models projecting small but persistent streamflow reductions from increased pumping; the state is exploring conjunctive management policies.
Marie Cozen Cousins, general manager at the Carson Water Subconservancy District, presented a 30-year watershed sustainability plan to Lyon County’s Board of County Commissioners on April 2, summarizing a multi-agency modeling effort that looked at streamflow, groundwater pumping and future municipal demands across the Carson River watershed.
Key findings included a long-term downward trend in river flows and increased variability: the largest wet years are larger while droughts are deeper. Cousins said the pattern is basin-wide and that runoff timing is shifting earlier in the year, a change that affects irrigators and reservoir operations. “We’re seeing the…
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