Recent rains push Lake Tahoe back to its natural rim

Recent rains have Lake Tahoe lapping at its natural rim and while it may stay there for a time, the lake should soon start dropping again during this year of drought.

Thursday, the lake level was officially measured at just a few hundredths of an inch before its rim but a trickle of water flowed from the lake and toward the Truckee River. Similar conditions have existed since Monday, the first time the lake was so high since dropping below the rim last October.

“It’s basically at the rim,” said Federal Water Master Chad Blanchard. “Right now it’s at its peak that we’ve seen.”

Which is to say, it’s still very low.

“It is coming over, seeping through or splashing over,” Blanchard said. “There is a trickle but it’s not much more than a couple of garden hoses. It does nothing for the river.”

Lake Tahoe’s natural rim is at 6,223 feet above sea level. When the lake is full, the Tahoe City Dam stores an additional 6.1 feet of water above that level – more than 242 billion gallons – that is used for downstream use, including municipal supplies for Reno-Sparks.

Four years of drought steadily lowered lake levels, with the lake dropping below the rim and cutting off flow into the Truckee River in October. At the lowest point in early February, Tahoe was nearly 8 inches below its rim.

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