Summer water outlook in Nevada bright after storms

FALLON (AP) - The summer water outlook for residents and farmers in Nevada is bright after winter and spring storms delivered unusually heavy snow to the region.

Many farmers around Fallon can expect a 100 percent allotment for the irrigation season with the help of a 30 percent increase in storage at Lahontan Reservoir from last year, the Lahontan Valley News of Fallon reported.

The recent storage level at the Fallon-area reservoir on the Carson River was 161,400 acre-feet.

Dan Greenlee, a water supply specialist for the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, released a report that states the season-ending snowpack, along with river and stream flows, will be average to above-average for much of the state.

Even the Humboldt District, which has been hit hard by drought the past few years, has seen a comeback. Storage at Rye Patch Reservoir in the Lower Humboldt River Basin is up 23 percent over last year - from 15,800 acre-feet last year to 39,300 acre-feet this year.

The snowpack in the Lake Tahoe Basin is at 176 percent of average for the date thanks to a series of powerful late-season storms.

Alpine Meadows ski resort just north of Tahoe on Sunday reported its snowiest month of March since it began keeping records in 1970-71. A total of 201 inches at its base lodge for the month surpasses the previous March record of 197 inches at the lodge set in 2006.

Usable storage at Lake Tahoe rose from 24,300 acre-feet last year to 223,500 acre-feet this season, according to the report. The lake is expected to rise 2.2 feet from March 1 to its high elevation.

The water content of the Tahoe Basin snowpack was 135 percent of the March 1 average compared with 86 percent last year.