The Truckee River is the sole outlet of Lake Tahoe, and travels 140 miles through Northern California and Nevada, draining 3,120 square miles of land (the Watershed) into Pyramid Lake. That includes all of the light green colored land shown on the map below! Throughout the Truckee River Watershed, dozens of creeks/tributaries, drainages, and storm drains contribute to the River, collecting stormwater from the mountains, Truckee Meadows, and high desert, as well as runoff directly from the Town of Truckee and Cities of Reno and Sparks.

The Truckee River is one of Nevada’s most significant natural and cultural resources, delivering 80% of all drinking water to residents in the Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County areas, and it's the only significant source of water to Pyramid Lake, a sensitive and valuable "desert terminus lake." The River provides a significant contribution to the annual agricultural water needs of the Fernley and Fallon areas, including the Lahontan Reservoir. Additionally, the River provides a rich source of habitat for many species of plants and wildlife, supporting fishing and countless other recreational activities along the river.

Watershed Assessment Reports and Watershed Plans:

Since 2005, the Truckee Meadows Storm Water Permit Coordinating Committee (SWPCC) has implemented a Watershed Assessment Program for Tributaries to the Truckee River.  The assessments are performed annually performed annually to evaluate impacts from urban development, track trends in stream condition and overall stream health, and identify high risk areas for future watershed restoration projects. In 2020 SWPCC updated the Watershed Plan for Tributaries to the Truckee River. The 2020 Plan describes approaches to protect and improve the water quality in stream corridors and drainages, and qualifies Truckee Meadows agencies for NDEP 319(h) grant funding, for water quality implementation projects.

Recent Assessments:
(All downloads are available at TMstormwater.com/about-publications/)

• Watershed Assessment 2022: 

• 2022 Galena Creek Project Reach Assessment Memo with Appendices

  2022 Chalk Creek Project Reach Assessment Memo

  2022 Steamboat Creek Watershed Assessment Memo

  2022 South Evans Creek Project Assessment Memo

  2022 North Truckee Drain Project Reach Assessment Memo

  2022 Jones Creek CRR Project Reach Assessment Memo

Chalk Creek Subwatershed

Increased runoff from urbanization has increased the hydromodification rate and led to severe erosion at some sites along Chalk Creek. In the 2020 Watershed Plan for Tributaries to the Truckee River, Chalk Creek was listed as a high priority for implementation, and in 2020, the NDEP 319(h) Grant was utilized to kick start the Chalk Creek Stabilization and Erosion Control at Sapphire Ridge Project. Please check back for project progress and a future construction schedule.

In addition, Chalk Creek is listed as an impaired surface water on the 2020-2022 NDEP 303d impaired waters list or nitrogen, phosphorous, temperature, TDS, total suspended solids, selenium, and sulfates. While some of these constituents seem to be naturally occurring, in 2009 the City of Reno conducted a local watershed study and built an experimental sulfate-reducing wetland in Chalk Creek to explore the removal of these pollutants on a pilot scale. Learn more about this past project in the links below:

• Learn more on YouTube about Chalk Creek's challenges (03/09)
• View the Community Presentation given to NW Reno citizens (11/09), regarding Reducing Urban Stormwater Pollution.
• View the YouTube video on the Constructed Wetland Project (06/10)
• View the Wetland Project interpretive sign, funded by the NW NAB and Truckee River Fund.

McKinley Arts & Cultural Center Demonstration LID Project

The City of Reno completed a significant Low Impact Development (LID) project at the McKinley Arts & Cultural Center, breaking ground in 2009. This project includes rain gutters to capture rainfall from the large rooftop, and constructing "softscapes," including a rain garden (depressed landscape area), and a pervious concrete parking lot, which receive and infiltrates rainwater from the western rooftop.

Stormwater that runs off urban rooftops, parking lots, driveways and other "hardscapes" can carry lawn chemicals, oil drips from cars, sediment, trash, other harmful chemicals to organisms in the river. Since urban stormwater travels quickly into the stormdrain system, and is routed straight to the Truckee River, local LID projects created a bio-friendly approach to stormwater management, replacing hardscapes with softscapes. Softscapes infiltrates and treats stormwater naturally, preventing "urban slobber" pollution from entering the River. Two 2010 YouTube videos capture the project well; learn about the parking lot or learn about the rain garden.

To learn more about pervious concrete and many other LID technologies, view the Low Impact Design Manual, and download the LID Design Guidance Worksheets.

Working in the Truckee River and Riparian Areas

Working in the Truckee River requires many permits, protective measures and monitoring. To provide guidance for performing work in or near the river, the Northern Nevada Water Planning Commission funded the development of the Truckee River Restoration and Construction Site Permitting Handbook, containing a Permitting Process Flowchart.

About the Truckee Meadows Watershed Committee

The interlocal agreement between the Cities of Reno and Sparks and Washoe County was updated in 2004. It was concluded that it was appropriate to expand the purview of the Truckee Meadows Stormwater Permit Coordinating Committee (SWPCC) to include consideration of watershed management for the benefit of water quality in the Truckee River and tributaries. Hence, the committee has also been dubbed the "Truckee Meadows Watershed Committee." 

It is recognized that there are numerous regulatory agencies and jurisdictional boundaries along the Truckee River, listed below. The Committee strives to establish common goals and approaches with these agencies to protect and enhance our watershed!