Web Resources

Baseline Ecological Monitoring: McCarran Ranch Restoration Project, Lower Truckee River, Nevada (2003-4)

lynellg — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:22:29 -0800

DRI Research Topics at the McCarran Ranch Restoration Project include:

Benthic Algae, Benthic Macroinvertebrates, Fish, Geomorphic Habitat
Temperature, Water Levels and GW-SW Exchange, Water Chemistry and Quality

For site map and sampling sites, please visit website below.

Bottled Water and Energy

lynellg — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:15:16 -0800

Posted by the Pacific Institute

The growing consumption of bottled water raises questions about the product’s economic and environmental costs. Among the most significant concerns are the resources required to produce the plastic bottles and to deliver filled bottles to consumers, including both energy and water.

The Pacific Institute estimates that in 2006:

Producing the bottles for American consumption required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil, not including the energy for transportation;
Bottling water produced more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide;
It took 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water;

Total U.S. Consumption of Bottled Water in 2006

According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, Americans bought a total of 31.2 billion liters of water in 2006, sold in bottles ranging from the 8-ounce aquapods popular in school lunches to the multi-gallon bottles found in family refrigerators and office water coolers. Most of this water was sold in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, requiring nearly 900,000 tons of the plastic. PET is produced from fossil fuels – typically natural gas and petroleum.

To view more reasons why watershed restoration is a more sustainable way of managing resources than relying upon bottled water, please visit the website.

California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission

lynellg — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:51:07 -0700

Established by both Governor Schwarzenegger and Governor Gibbons, the California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission consists of 17 voting members that represent each State's stake in the responsible management of lands and fire fuels within the Tahoe Basin, including representatives from affected state agencies, fire agencies and the public.

Fuels management plans, meeting schedules, and other valuable resources are available at the website.

Center for Watersheds and Environmental Sustainability, DRI

lynellg — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:12:13 -0800

The Center for Watersheds and Environmental Sustainability (CWES) at the Desert Research Institute creates new predictive approaches for understanding the behavior of watersheds in a planning and management policy context. In addition, CWES facilitates development of interdisciplinary research teams within the Desert Research Institute that address watershed science, planning, and restoration.

It is the vision of CWES to develop a research program to integrate the current scientific knowledge base and translate this knowledge into relevant information to aid political entities in developing sustainable environmental and economic policies with their watersheds.

Within the Western United States, there has been rising concern about the quality of our natural environment. This concern is related to the intrinsic value of a naturally-functioning environment and the aesthetic value it provides to the human experience. The causes for concern about the environment in the west are many, but a common element amongst many of these concerns is water. In much of the mountainous west, the highly variable nature of the availability of water, both temporally and spatially, make it the critical resource for sustaining both human and natural environments. Due to this situation, it is a natural outcome that sustainable economies and environments in the west go hand in hand, and must be developed at the watershed scale.

To learn more about the CWES, please visit the website below.

EPA's pollutant trading website

lynellg — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:05:28 -0700

Follow the link below for various options.

Flow data compiled: by the California Fly Fisher

lynellg — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:00:04 -0700

Includes CA river conditions (CDEC), East Sierra reservoir levels and stream flows, and Federal streamflow data.

Greywater Guerrillas

lynellg — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 09:09:44 -0800

The Greywater Guerrillas are a collaborative group of educators, designers, builders, and artists who educate and empower people to build sustainable water culture and infrastructure.

We recently published the anthology "Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground"
Available from 100 Fires.

"The politics of water - as this brilliant anthology makes clear - are the politics of human survival. Read this, and believe me, you'll never flush with the same equanimity again."
Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz and Dead Cities

For greywater and composting systems:
http://www.greywaterguerrillas.com/projects.html

Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful

lynellg — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:27:11 -0800

Visit website for events and web resources.

Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful was founded in 1989 under the name of "Western Nevada Clean Communities." It was started by members of the Biggest Little City Committee that decided a clean community was one of the Committee's major priorities. This group began the Adopt-A-Park program to involve citizens in a hands on volunteer activity that would spruce up parks and the Truckee River. Based on the success of the Adopt-A-Park program, and realizing the entire community would stand to benefit from year-round focus on the issue of cleanliness, the members set about to develop a new, separate organization affiliated with Keep America Beautiful, Inc.

Western Nevada Clean Communities, Inc. (WNCC) was certified by Keep America Beautiful in November of 1990. Adopt-A-Park remained (and remains) a key program, and was joined by the Phone Book Recycling Roundup in 1991, the kick-off of the Nevada Keep it Clean Campaign in 1992, Christmas Tree Recycling in 1993, and Adopt-A-Spot in 1994. In 1997, WNCC partnered with the City of Reno to develop the 'Graffiti Hotline'. It wasn't until January 12, 1999 that WNCC officially became the organization we know and love today: Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful.

Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful (KTMB) is dedicated to creating a cleaner, more beautiful region through education and active community involvement. KTMB's current programs include: Adopt-A-Spot, Adopt-A-Park, Christmas Tree Recycling, Phone Book Recycling, neighborhood and open space cleanups, educational paper making workshops and the "Trash Lady™", now known as "Waste Warriors." For more information on how you can get involved e-mail maia@beautiful.reno.nv.us or call 851-5185.

Nevada EcoNet

lynellg — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:30:08 -0800

Nevada EcoNet, a Reno-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, was organized in 1990 under the name "Environmental Leadership" to serve as a primary source of environmental information and education. It the goal of EcoNet to keep people informed, and to encourage informed action, on the important environmental issues impacting our region and quality of life. Our intention is to draw upon local resources and through knowledge, information, and action create a useful resource for the community at large.

For access to the local 'green guide', environmental calender, and other documents, please visit the website.

NWS Truckee River real-time river hydrograph, and recorded flow data, at Reno

lynellg — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:36:35 -0800

Real-time flood stage data on Truckee River at Reno, including flooding descriptions for all stage measurements at Reno on the Truckee in NV - as well as a source of historical flow data.

Pyramid Lake Fisheries

dwaetjen — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:47:12 -0700

Pyramid Lake, famous for its Lahontan cutthroat trout (LCT) fishery, is located about 35 miles northeast of Reno on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation. Pyramid Lake covers approximately 112,000 acres on land and is 350 feet at its deepest point. Pyramid is a "high desert" lake (elevation 3,817 feet), and after travelling through the desert to its end, the water is about 1/6 as salty as sea water.

Pyramid Lake contains two fish species on the federal threatened & endangered species list: the Lahontan Cutthroad Trout, and the ancient Cui-ui. The lake is flanked on the east and west by rugged mountain ranges, and around the lake shore there are many large "tufa" rock formations (formed by calcium carbonate deposits).

While the fisheries website has been down for some time, the Tribe's intersting wildlife website is accessible at: http://www.plpt.nsn.us/wildlife/index.html

Rainwater as a Resource, report (TreePeople)

lynellg — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:21:08 -0800

A Report on Three Sites Demonstrating Sustainable Stormwater Management

Are our cities beyond repair?
TreePeople doesn’t think so.

As part of its Natural Urban Systems Group, TreePeople has been involved in the implementation of several retrofits designed to restore the natural functions of urban sites. From single-family homes to large public sites such as schools and parks, we’ve helped show that integrating nature’s cycles into the urban landscape is not only technically and financially feasible but also highly desirable for individuals and cities alike.

By incorporating stormwater best management practices (BMPs) such as swales, retention grading, cisterns, infiltrators and strategically-planted trees in building and landscaping designs, a multitude of benefits can be realized, including: improved water quality; a decreased risk of flooding; a reduced need for water importation; heat-island effect mitigation; a reduction in contributions to global climate change; and an augmented supply of local groundwater. These are just some of the benefits that are possible when urban sites are allowed to work in concert with nature’s cycles of flood, drought and waste – and together, they create a sharp improvement in the quality of life in the neighborhoods in which we live, learn, work and play.

The newly published report Rainwater as a Resource shares the details of utilizing these concepts and sheds light on the many opportunities to implement the wide array of available technologies. We encourage you to peruse this report to learn more about using these principles as a means of moving cities closer to sustainability.

The report is attached here in pdf format. Appendices you might find interesting include some project as-built drawings, and O&M and inspection costs at this website:
http://www.treepeople.org/vfp.dll?OakTree~getPage~&PNPK=207

Rainwater harvesting guide

lynellg — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:37:03 -0800

Welcome to the Rainwater Harvesting Guide, where water is gold.

The best way to learn about rainwater harvesting is to read books on the subject, here are my current reviews.

This website explains the rationale behind collecting rainwater, contains lists of equipment producers supporting rainwater collection, gives books/contacts, upcoming events, research, technical discussions, and posts as references.

Real-Time Information: USGS stream flow and well water gages through Truckee River system

lynellg — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:56:53 -0700

From the KRNV website: describing our watershed. Click on website for gaging sites & real-time data.
Truckee Meadows is a bowl-shaped valley, approximately 10 miles wide and 16 miles long, containing the cities of Reno and Sparks with a combined urban population of approximately 280,000 persons. The Truckee Meadows also includes Pleasant Valley and Washoe Valley to the south, the latter valley containing Washoe Lake and Little Washoe Lake. Both these valleys are drained by Steamboat Creek, which then runs along the eastern portion of the Truckee Meadows and empties into the Truckee River near Vista and the beginning of the lower Truckee River canyon. Along the way, Steamboat Creek picks up the return flows of numerous irrigation ditches to the south of the Truckee River, the most important being Steamboat Ditch, Last Chance Ditch, and Lake Ditch, as well as the Boynton Slough. The Boynton Slough is the recipient of some of these other ditches' return-flow waters as well. Steamboat Creek also receives the treated effluent from the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (formerly the Reno-Sparks joint sewage treatment plant).
The eastern part of the Truckee Meadows was a vast marshy wetland prior to development of the area, and remnants of low-lying areas are still farmed today. Loss of this wetland area has exacerbated flooding in the Sparks industrial area.The Truckee Meadows urban area is the largest user of municipal and industrial water from the Truckee River. While municipal and industrial water use (withdrawals) in the Truckee Meadows total approximately 65,000 acre-feet per year, nearly three times this amount (172,383 acre-feet per year, 1973-1994) is diverted out of the lower Truckee River Basin at Derby Dam and into the Truckee Canal for agricultural use in the Newlands Project in the lower Carson River Basin.

Rule Consolidates Wetlands Policies

lynellg — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:21:38 -0700

New directions on stream restoration are notable in a federal rule that clarifies how and where compensatory mitigation must be conducted for unavoidable impacts to the nation's wetlands and streams.

This rule reduces risk & uncertainty in establishing a preference hierarchy for mitigation options. The final federal rule on Compensatory Mitigation for Losses of Aquatic Resources is available at the website below. Use the code 88179 on prompt at that site.

Street Edge Alternatives (SEA Streets) Project

lynellg — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:05:59 -0800

Seattle's pilot Street Edge Alternatives Project (SEA Streets) was completed in the spring of 2001. It is designed to provide drainage that more closely mimics the natural landscape prior to development than traditional piped systems.

To accomplish this, we reduced impervious surfaces to 11 percent less than a traditional street, provided surface detention in swales, and added over 100 evergreen trees and 1100 shrubs.

Two years of monitoring show that SEA Street has reduced the total volume of stormwater leaving the street by 99 percent.
****
To view plans, costs and benefits, hydrologic monitoring data, and the full description of this project, please visit the website.

Sustainable Infrastructure for Water & Wastewater

lynellg — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:53:06 -0800

Energy and Water: EPA site for information regarding:
Reducing climate impacts, saving money, and saving water – these are the goals of projects and programs that exploit the nexus between energy use and water use. Identifying approaches to integrate energy efficient practices into the daily management and long-term planning of the water sector also contribute to the long-term sustainability of water infrastructure by reducing operation costs and adding to a utility’s bottom line. This page provides information on a number of activities EPA is supporting to improve energy efficiency at water utilities across the country.

On this webpage, find:
Basic Information
How much energy do drinking water and wastewater utilities use?
Does energy efficiency save money?
Does water efficiency save energy?
Benchmarking Energy Use at Utilities
Managing to Maximize Energy Efficiency
On-site Energy Generation
Auxiliary and Supplemental Power
Paying for Energy Efficiency
State Efforts to Promote Energy Efficiency

The Nature Conservancy McCarran Ranch / Truckee River Pilot Restoration Project

dwaetjen — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:39:51 -0700

The pilot project will restore approximately 1 mile of channel by raising the bottom and narrowing the width from roughly 200 to 120 feet. Before being straightened in 1962 as part of a flood control project, the channel at McCarran Ranch averaged 75 feet in width. As a result of the alterations in 1962 the channel has entrenched downward by roughly 3 feet, causing groundwater to drop beyond the reach of river-side vegetation. The restored channel will reconnect the river to the floodplain. The pilot will also create rearing ponds for threatened Western Pond Turtles and Leopard Frogs. Two wetland areas will be constructed and over 15 acres of floodplain will be revegetate with native willow, cottonwood and other plants.

Truckee Meadows Regional Stormwater Quality Management Program

lynellg — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:51:10 -0800

Truckee Meadows Regional Stormwater Quality Management Program

This site contains copies of the draft guidance documents for the Truckee Meadows region(including: Draft Regional Low Impact Development manual, Construction site BMPs, and the Structural Controls Design Manual - all in pdf format) .
THESE DOCUMENTS HAVE BEEN FINALIZED AND ARE AVAILABLE FOR DISTRIBUTION. PLEASE CONTACT www.tmstormwater.com.
-as well as regulatory permitting information, descriptions of BMPs for all industries, and more watershed information available in the watershed mapserver and watershed assessments.

Please visit the website to view contents.

Truckee River Discharge data - realtime, at Farad

lynellg — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:53:58 -0800

Real-time Truckee River flows at Farad upstream from Verdi. Please visit website.

Truckee River Discharge data - realtime, at Reno

lynellg — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:01:43 -0800

Real-time discharge data (cfs) from USGS gage can be found at the website below.

Truckee River Fund

lynellg — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:11:02 -0700

Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) established the Truckee River Fund (the Fund) in 2004. The purpose of the Fund as stated in the Fund agreement is that it “shall be used exclusively for projects that protect and enhance water quality or water resources of the Truckee River, or its watershed”. In addition, the Fund provides TMWA with a vehicle for responding to the numerous requests from outside groups and organizations that are involved in promoting and improving the health of the Truckee River System and watershed, thus benefiting the primary water source for the community and, in the long run, benefiting TMWA customers.

The Fund is held at the Community Foundation of Western Nevada, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

For a list of projects and more information, visit website.

Truckee River Operating Agreement EIS/EIR (final 1/2008)

lynellg — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:28:50 -0800

Final EIS/EIR Summary:
The action considered is implementation of the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA) in accordance with Public Law 101-618, Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act of 1990. The primary purpose of TROA is to modify operation of Federal and selected non-Federal reservoirs in the Truckee River basin located in northeastern California and northwestern Nevada, enhance conditions for threatened and endangered fish species, increase drought protection, improve river water quality, and enhance instream flows. Signatories to TROA are U.S. Department of the Interior, States of Nevada and California, Truckee Meadows Water Authority, and Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

To access pdf's of all sections of this document, please visit website.

Truckee River TMDL case study (historical document, 1994)

lynellg — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:09:53 -0800

EPA TMDL Case Study, EPA 841-F-94-006, August 1994, Number 13

Documentation of original load allocations of N, P, and TDS as well as one wasteload allocation in the watershed.

Please visit website for information.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Fish Passage Program: Truckee River

lynellg — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:04:52 -0800

The Numana Diversion Dam was constructed in 1971 to divert Truckee River water for agricultural purposes to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation. The dam is located about 12 miles upstream from the Pyramid Lake shoreline. The dam is a lowhead diversion and includes a fish ladder on the east abutment. On the opposite side of the river, water is diverted through a headgate and is filtered through three electrical powered revolving screens. This screen system is designed to prevent entrainment of adult fish and debris into the irrigation system, and conveys fish back to the river via a culvert. The fish ladder and screens were retrofitted in 1976 to facilitate fish passage. By 2000, the screens were badly corroded and not functional.

Project Status: In 2001, the Service partnered with the Bureau of Reclamation to assess the integrity of the screens. The structural frameworks of the screens were found corroded beyond repair and it was recommended to rebuild the screen system with stainless steel rather than high carbon steel. Currently, funds have been expended to replace a hoist, cables, and the trolley framework, and bids are being circulated to estimate the cost for complete renovation.

Benefits: Renovating the fish screens will maintain the endangered cui-ui lakesucker and threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout within 24 miles of its native habitat.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Evaluating Water Quality in the Lower Truckee River

lynellg — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:10:12 -0800

December 12, 2005

Results of this investigation revealed that trout in the Truckee River are being exposed to significant levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) within the urban area of Reno and Sparks. Trout downstream of the urban area of Reno and Sparks also have elevated concentrations of arsenic, mercury, and selenium. Based upon these results, the Service is working in conjunction with the cities of Reno and Sparks to develop and implement strategies to reduce non-point source (NPS) pollution to the Truckee River. The Service is also working directly with the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility to reduce potential impacts from their point source (PS) discharge to the Truckee River. Working with the Cities of Reno and Sparks, along with Washoe County, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, U.S. Geological Survey, Desert Research Institute, University of Nevada- Reno, and the Nevada Department of Wildlife, the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) standards for several constituents are being assessed and will be revised. The City of Reno also recently issued new storm-water engineering guidelines and best management practices to reduce non-point source pollution to the Truckee River. In addition, approximately 8 acres of riparian habitat were improved on McCarran Ranch to help reduce point and non-point source pollution in the lower Truckee River. Further restoration of the McCarran Ranch is planned along with planned additions of riparian and wetland habitats in the floodplain throughout the Truckee Meadows area for purposes of improving flood control.

Urban BMP Performance Tool

lynellg — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:53:58 -0700

The EPA has created a new web-based tool to provide stormwater professionals with easy access to 220 studies that assess the performance of more than 275 stormwater best management practices (BMPs).
The tool provides access to studies covering a variety of traditional and low impact BMP types, including retention & detention ponds, biofilters, grassed filter strips, porous pavement, wetlands, etc.

To view this tool, visit the website below.

USDA - NRCS soils mapping tool

lynellg — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:38:48 -0700

The Soil Data Mart allows you to:

-Determine where soil tabular and spatial data is available.
-Download data for one soil survey area at a time. (Download requests for more than one survey area at a time can be submitted through the Geospatial Data Gateway. Going through the Geospatial Data Gateway also provides the option to obtain data on CD or DVD.)
-Download a template Microsoft Access® database for working with downloaded data.
-Generate a variety of reports for one soil survey area at a time.
-Find out who to contact for information about soil data for a particular state.
-"Subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to a soil survey area. A person who is subscribed will automatically be notified whenever data for that soil survey area is updated. You must register and login before doing this.

Please visit the website to explore this tool.

USDA/USFS Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Imagery Support

lynellg — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:23:31 -0700

The BAER Imagery Support program is a cooperative effort between the USDA Forest Service Remote Sensing Applications Center and the US Geological Survey Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science. The Centers have teamed up to provide rapid delivery of satellite imagery, Burned Area Reflectance Classifications (BARC), and other geospatial data to Forest Service and DOI BAER teams.

For contact information and further direction, please visit website.

USFS Modis Active Fire Mapping Program

lynellg — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:20:00 -0700

Interactive fire map:
Fire locations are based on data provided by the National Interagency Fire Center and are subject to change.

These fire information products were compiled at the USDA Forest Service (USFS) Remote Sensing Applications Center in cooperation with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the University of Maryland, the National Interagency Fire Center, and the USFS Missoula Fire Sciences Lab.