Bill Hauck
TMWA Senior Hydrologist
As we move into August, we’re beginning to experience the anticipated drop off in Truckee River flows and have started releasing our drought reserves to meet customer demand. With this in mind, we have begun asking customers to reduce outdoor water use by 10% and to not run sprinklers between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. – the hottest and windiest hours of the day when most evaporative loss occurs.
Last week’s average water demand reached 105.1 million gallons a day. The peak one-day demand for 2014, so far, was Saturday, July 3rd, when we reached 119.7 million gallons. We anticipate this will be our peak demand day for the year. Year-to-date consumption levels are just a hair over 2013, at 100.3%. Truckee River flow at the CA/NV state line was approximately 200 cubic feet per second this morning. TMWA began releasing drought reserves yesterday (Sunday, August 3) from Boca Reservoir in response to declining flows from the Truckee River. The good news is that despite persistent drought conditions, TMWA’s drought-supply reservoirs are full and we will have no difficulty meeting customer needs.
If you would like more information on our area’s current water situation and TMWA’s conservation measures, please visit: www.tmwa.com/save.