by:  Elizabeth Sedway, TahoeKidsGuide.com

Locals and tourists alike wonder:  Why aren't the rafting companies, between Tahoe City and River Ranch, open for business this summer.  Despite record snowfall this past winter, the simple answer is:  there's not yet enough water in this segment of the Truckee River.  There will, however, likely be enough water for these rafting companies to open as soon as July 25, 2011.

The explanation as to why the rafting businesses, between Tahoe City and River Ranch, have not opened yet this year can be found in a federal agreement called, the Truckee River Operating Agreement. [please see correction printed below]  This agreement governs the various water rights and safety considerations associated with the Truckee River.[please see correction printed below]  A part of this agreement, called the Floristan Rule, states that water cannot be released from Lake Tahoe (at Tahoe City), until the flow of the Truckee River into Reno is below 500 cubic feet per second.[please see correction printed below]  This rule is designed to prevent flooding in Reno. [please see correction printed below] Ironically, while the flow of the Truckee River into Reno is still too high, the flow of the Truckee River between Tahoe City and River Ranch is still relatively low, because its source is water from the lake and not from mountain streams.

There is, however, good news for the Tahoe City to River Ranch rafting companies.  Reports are that water may be released from Lake Tahoe at Tahoe City as soon as July 25, 2011.[please see correction printed below]   As soon as water is released from Lake Tahoe, which is reportedly up from last year's levels by as much as six feet, the rafting companies will have all the water they need for a stellar rafting season.

Click here to read the Daily Report issued by the Truckee River Operating Agreement, Water Master.

***Corrections***

After this article was published I was contacted by Jeff Boyer, Tahoe River Operating Agreement  Implementation Planning Coordinator.  He offered the following corrections to the above article.  His corrections are reprinted here in their entirety. I added the hyperlinks in the text below.

I,[Jeff Boyer], suspect that your article was only intended to answer simple questions about when Tahoe visitors could expect to raft the Tahoe City section of the Truckee River and not to explain the extremely complicated current and proposed river and reservoir operating laws. For that reason my corrections might seem overly precise. However, you touched on some sensitive topics and the Watermaster's Office has worked long and hard to clarify frequent misunderstandings regarding releases from Lake Tahoe. I hope the following corrections will help you with any similar articles that you write in the future.  

First correction is that current operating policy for Tahoe and the other Truckee Basin reservoirs is dictated by the 1935 Truckee River Agreement (TRA), not the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA). The proposed modification to the TRA is called the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA). The process to replace TRA with TROA is on-going and has been for more than 20 years. Yet to be completed is approval of TROA by the courts. None of TROA's provisions are in effect now.

Second correction is that reservoir releases are made as necessary to satisfy water rights in Nevada, not generally to prevent flooding. During the summer a flow of 500cfs at the California/Nevada state line is required by the TRA to satisfy water right diversions. The required flow is called the Floriston Rate. Outside of the irrigation season, the Floriston Rate varies with the month and the level of Lake Tahoe. The Floriston Rate provides adequate flow to satisfy water rights in Nevada and is not related to flood control. 

Currently the Watermaster can only release water from Tahoe 1) To meet a minimum fish water flow below the dam, as is being done now, 2) As necessary to meet the Floriston Rate. No additional release of water has been necessary to meet the Floriston Rate yet this summer 3) to keep the Lake from over-filling and damaging the shoreline. Such releases are not expected to be necessary this year.

There is no definite date for the start of rafting in the section from Tahoe City to River Ranch. The Watermaster's current projection for releases to be adequate for rafting flows from Tahoe City to River Ranch is sometime in August. Rafting on the Truckee from Boca to Floriston is an excellent option right now. That stretch is generally done with a guide.

When the flood gates are open, and the lower truckee (between Tahoe City and River Ranch), is avaiable for rafting, the following information will be helpful.