Reid plans to sign Truckee River water plan

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid says he will attend a September signing of a water-sharing agreement aimed at settling a century of disputes over Truckee River water use between Nevada and California.

Reid called the Truckee River Operating Agreement one of the most important deals he’s ever negotiated. The agreement is scheduled to be signed Sept. 6 in Sparks.

The agreement provides storage for drought-year water supplies in Sierra reservoirs — including Boca, Prosser and Stampede — for years to come for the Reno and Sparks area.

The allocation of river water, much of which also flows from Lake Tahoe, has been fought over by irrigation district, the Pyramid Paiute Tribe and state and federal officials for decades. The Truckee River begins at Lake Tahoe and ends at Pyramid Lake.

Officials say that storage will help meet demand in drought years when Truckee Meadows Water Authority is providing up to 119,000 acre-feet of water a year to customers.

The plan already is in place and working under an interim agreement approved several years ago.