Lake Tahoe expected to fill for the first time in five years

For the first time in nearly five years, Lake Tahoe is expected to fill this spring. Although the water year continues through September, The Natural Resources Conservation Service is already confident about this year’s positive outlook.

“It is a already a safe bet to pencil in a win on this year’s report card, especially for northern Nevada,” their report says.

This is good news since once full, Lake Tahoe can typically provide enough water to meet demand for three years, even if consecutive snowpacks are below normal, according to their statement. The service expects most key reservoirs in northern Nevada and eastern Sierra will fill this spring as well.

“In summary, water year 2024 is well on its way to receiving an A on its final report card,” the report states, “The difference between an A- and an A+ might come down to how much spring precipitation the region receives and how those amounts impact observed streamflow volumes.”

The service says our early May storm added a good dose of precipitation, but more is needed after a dry April and basins still need additional precipitation to reach normal water year totals. However, there’s still plenty of time by September 30.

A number of factors have contributed to this A status. As previously reported, this winter’s snowpack peaked above normal for the second winter in a row. As of May 1, snowpacks still continue to be above normal despite the dry April and areas of record snowmelt.

It was last year’s late melting snow and mid-summer deluge from Hurricane Hilary as well as April’s snowmelt that raised soil moisture high enough to help with efficient runoff this year.

Most of Nevada is currently drought free except a small portion of southern Nevada.

The full Nevada Water Supply Outlook Report is available on the service’s website, nrcs.usda.gov/nevada/snow-survey.