Year: 1992
Type: article
Abstract: On November 16, 1990, the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone and Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act became law.(Public Law 101-618, 104 Stat.3289; hereafter "the Truckee-Carson Settlement" or simply "the Act."See also Senate Report 101-555.)Responding to pressures common throughout the West, the Act seeks to accommodate long-neglected aquatic ecosystem needs, unresolved Native American claims, and burgeoning urban-sector demands, while at the same time assuring the continued viability of communities long-dependent on Reclamation-era preferences.Central to the Act are its myriad provisions for the restoration of desert aquatic ecosystemsthe start, perhaps, of a new "reclamation" era in which ecosystem needs become an integral part of basinwide water-resources management.This article gives an overview of the Act*s restoration mandates, with particular focus on provisions involving improved water management, efficiency, and allocation.Also discussed are several key implementation concerns and unresolved issues. SETTING AND CONTEXTThe Truckee and Carson Rivers (Figure 1) flow east from California's Sierra Nevada mountains into historically-expansive lake and wetland complexes at the western edge of the Great Basin desert in Nevada.At the end of the Truckee River lies Pyramid Lake, home to the federally-listed endangered cui-ui, the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout, and, at the Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge, what was until recently the largest white pelican rookery in North America.The Carson River ends up in the Carson Sink, supporting at its delta the Stillwater marsh, Carson Lake, and other Lahontan Valley wetlands.The wetland ecosystem, an inland stepping stone on the Pacific Flyway, is among the most important of the western Great Basin.It also serves as a primary forage base for Anaho's white pelicans.1 Mr. Yardas, a water-rights analyst with the Environment a 1 Defense Fund, was a Fellow at the Natural Resources Law Center during the spring semester 1991.This article, which appeared in the Center's newsletter Resource Law Notes.#24, Jan. 1992, is adapted from his work on the Truckee-Carson Settlement and its implications for western water policy reform.
Author: David Yardas
Language: English
Subfield: Water Science and Technology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2887356306