Meadows at Upper Truckee River and Trout Creek flooding, just as restoration projects wanted

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Most of the meadows around South Lake Tahoe have had a lot of standing water over them this spring, and those surrounding Trout Creek and the Upper Truckee River have seen more water than they've experienced in years.

Both waterways went over their banks weeks ago, and it may be several weeks until water moves back into its normal flow pattern.

Extensive restoration has occurred on both the Upper Truckee River and Trout Creek, and what is occurring now is exactly as planned and more natural.

Warming temperatures have been stimulating snow melt, with a high discharge rate as the water empties into Lake Tahoe. When that flow is heavy and gets too fast, the water backs up and breaches the banks as it is now. Discharge has slowed over the last three days with cooler temperatures, but that is temporary.

From 2019-2022, the California Tahoe Conservancy worked to restore the 1,600-acre Upper Truckee Marsh in South Lake Tahoe. After years of damage caused by development and moves made by ranchers, the river lost its natural meandering flow and had been just one straight channel of water. The restoration completed the steps needed to re-create the wetland with new channels, the filling in of a sailing lagoon, and new willows and other vegetation planted.

And now we can see that happening, as planned.

Lake Christopher was a man-made 55-acre created at Trout Creek around 1955, stopping the natural water flower downstream through the meadows to Lake Tahoe. The creek became more like a trickle, but after the City of South Lake Tahoe project to realign Trout Creek in the early 1980s, the creek was once again allowed to flow to the lake over its historical pattern.

Again, what we see now is what was planned.

Both meadows are underwater, but water isn't high enough to flow over nearby roads at this time.

On Memorial Day, Trout Creek discharge has slowed a little to about 373 cubic feet/second from last week's 458 ft3/s and daily high heights have been closer to 8.52 feet rather than last week's 8.82 feet, and daily lows have been 8.42 feet. In comparison, December was around 5.28 feet. (The water is cold too...40-50 degrees where the mid-summer high temperatures are 60-70 degrees). The water from Trout Creek is close to homes along the meadow sides, as well as the Tahoe Trout Farm.

The Upper Truckee River has also slowed a little and dropped a little in height this week, though the meadow around it is still underwater. On Memorial Day, the water had a height of 8.10 feet to 8.48 feet, which is also lower than last week due to cooler temperatures slowing the snow melt. On May 23, 2023, the high point of the day saw a height of 9.8 feet and a low of 9.13 feet. The December 2022 low was 2.98 feet. The discharge at Lake Tahoe saw a low of 650 cubic feet/second yesterday with Memorial Day's rate at 753 ft3/s. The high point last week was 1080 ft3/s. (The Upper Truckee is also cold, 42-52 degrees, whereas mid-summer will see it 64-75 degrees).

For those wanting a great view of the Trout Creek Meadow, use the new Dennis T. Machida Memorial Greenway which goes over the creek and meadow between Martin Avenue and STPUD and LTCC.