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The $5 million project at the Tracy power plant will restore a portion of the river between the McCarran and 102 ranches, producing 9 contiguous miles of restored river.

"It represents one of the last puzzle pieces as far as the upstream half of all the restoration work planned on the lower Truckee River," said Danielle Henderson, natural resource manager for the Truckee River flood project.

A committee of local officials pursuing the $1.6 billion flood project voted Sept. 10 to make the Tracy power plant restoration a high-priority project that will proceed ahead of the larger flood control effort. It is scheduled to be reviewed by the Washoe County Commission on Oct. 12.

"It's more habitat, more river restored," said Patti Bakker, Truckee River project manager for the Nature Conservancy, which will conduct the restoration.

Work would occur on six parcels of land owned by NV Energy, which operates the Tracy power plant about 12 miles east of Sparks. It would include digging out new, natural meandering channels for the river, restoration of wetlands and the return of native vegetation.

Similar work took place at the first major restoration performed by the conservancy at the historic McCarran Ranch, completed in 2006 for $7 million.

Subsequent restoration projects, all associated with the flood project and all handled by the conservancy, have been completed at the 102 Ranch, at Lockwood and at the Mustang Ranch, the former site of Nevada's first legalized bordello.

The Mustang project was completed in the fall of 2009 at a cost of $7.8 million.

In addition to benefitting fish and wildlife, restoration of the lower Truckee is key to broader plans for flood control along the river. Changes planned to reduce flooding in the Truckee Meadows will send more water downstream during floods, where it will slow and spread naturally over the floodplain in the restored areas.

For that reason, officials said, downstream river restoration must occur before major flood-control improvements are built in the Reno-Sparks area.

In the 1960s, the government straightened the channel along a "good portion" of nearly 25 miles of the river in effort to move floodwaters more rapidly out of Reno-Sparks, said Naomi Duerr, flood project director.

"It was a well-intentioned move. It was the best thinking at the time," Duerr said.

The result, however, was an unnatural river with an eroded bed and banks and the loss of many fish and wildlife species.

Restoration projects along the river are designed to correct mistakes of the past.
 

The next big restoration project on the lower Truckee River is now under design, and when completed, it will link two other portions of the river already returned to a more natural state.

The $5 million project at the Tracy power plant will restore a portion of the river between the McCarran and 102 ranches, producing 9 contiguous miles of restored river.

"It represents one of the last puzzle pieces as far as the upstream half of all the restoration work planned on the lower Truckee River," said Danielle Henderson, natural resource manager for the Truckee River flood project.

A committee of local officials pursuing the $1.6 billion flood project voted Sept. 10 to make the Tracy power plant restoration a high-priority project that will proceed ahead of the larger flood control effort. It is scheduled to be reviewed by the Washoe County Commission on Oct. 12.

"It's more habitat, more river restored," said Patti Bakker, Truckee River project manager for the Nature Conservancy, which will conduct the restoration.

Work would occur on six parcels of land owned by NV Energy, which operates the Tracy power plant about 12 miles east of Sparks. It would include digging out new, natural meandering channels for the river, restoration of wetlands and the return of native vegetation.

Similar work took place at the first major restoration performed by the conservancy at the historic McCarran Ranch, completed in 2006 for $7 million.

Subsequent restoration projects, all associated with the flood project and all handled by the conservancy, have been completed at the 102 Ranch, at Lockwood and at the Mustang Ranch, the former site of Nevada's first legalized bordello.

The Mustang project was completed in the fall of 2009 at a cost of $7.8 million.

In addition to benefitting fish and wildlife, restoration of the lower Truckee is key to broader plans for flood control along the river. Changes planned to reduce flooding in the Truckee Meadows will send more water downstream during floods, where it will slow and spread naturally over the floodplain in the restored areas.

For that reason, officials said, downstream river restoration must occur before major flood-control improvements are built in the Reno-Sparks area.

In the 1960s, the government straightened the channel along a "good portion" of nearly 25 miles of the river in effort to move floodwaters more rapidly out of Reno-Sparks, said Naomi Duerr, flood project director.

"It was a well-intentioned move. It was the best thinking at the time," Duerr said.

The result, however, was an unnatural river with an eroded bed and banks and the loss of many fish and wildlife species.

Restoration projects along the river are designed to correct mistakes of the past.

Article by Jeff DeLong appeared in the Reno Gazette-Journal.