At the City Council meeting of September 11, 2017, City Council approved an agreement for Treated Effluent between the City of Sparks, City of Reno, and TRIGID.  Within that agreement, Section 7 obligated the parties to execute a Return Flow Management Agreement within 24 months.  The purpose of the Return Flow Management Agreement is to ensure the provision of replacement water to the Truckee River in exchange for delivery of treated effluent from TMWRF to TRIGID, anticipated to be 4,000 acre-feet at full utilization.  The sources of return flow were anticipated to be:  1,500 acre-feet of surface water rights from TRIGID; 1,500 to 2,200 acre-feet of surface water from the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT); and 300 to 1,000 acre-feet of “community sources” of water as determined by TMWA.  All return flow resources are to be managed by TMWA under the guidance of the Federal Water Master and State Engineer in compliance with the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA) and state law.

Under the direction of the Sparks City Manager, staff has met with representatives of TRIGID, SWITCH, Reno, and TMWA.  Using the general framework set forth in Section 7 of the Treated Effluent Agreement as the basis for discussion and negotiations, the parties have prepared a Return Flow Agreement for consideration and approval by the Sparks and Reno City Councils, TMWA Board of Directors, and TRIGID Board.

TMWA, NDOT, and TRIGID have negotiated a separate Water Rights Management Agreement to be presented for consideration and approval by those parties in June.  Generally, the Water Rights Management Agreement specifies:

• NDOT owns a significant amount of land within the Truckee Meadows, some of which has been identified as having appurtenant Truckee River water rights.  Said rights have not been researched and titled in NDOT’s name.
• NDOT desires to have TRIGID research and file necessary paperwork to properly title the water rights in NDOT’s name.
• NDOT desires to dedicate the water rights for in-stream flows to satisfy return flow requirement for TRIGID in utilizing TMWRF effluent.

NDOT authorizes and TMWA accepts management duties of the water rights pursuant to the Return Flow Management Agreement.

Section 7 of the Agreement for Treated Effluent (AC-5406) obligated the Cities, TMWA, and TRIGID to execute a Return Flow Management Agreement to ensure the provision of replacement water to the Truckee River in the annual amount of 4,000 acre-feet.  A deadline of 24 months from the date of execution of the Agreement for Treated Effluent was established.  The sources of replacement water were identified as:  1,500 acre-feet of surface water rights from TRIGID; 1,500 to 2,200 acre-feet of surface water rights from NDOT; 300 to 1,000 acre-feet of “community resources” water as determined by TMWA.  Additionally, the Return Flow Management Agreement must be in compliance with TROA and state law.

The Return Flow Management Agreement (attached) has been negotiated in compliance with Section 7 of the Agreement for Treated Effluent.  The following key points are offered for Council’s consideration:

Section 4.2, Priority of Rights

TMWA may, in its discretion, pool and collectively manage and utilize the various managed resources (TRIGID surface water rights, NDOT surface water rights, groundwater, privately owned surface water, Reno and Sparks surface water, and other rights as available) to satisfy return flow requirements for Reno and Sparks existing and future treated effluent customers and TRIGID demands.  This allows TMWA to better manage the resources available, which vary throughout the year, against the return flow requirements in compliance with TROA.

Section 4.4, Identification and Amount of TMWA Return Flow Resources

In order to protect the “community resources” offered by TMWA, a formula was devised whereas TMWA “community resources” will only come into play once the full 1,500 acre-feet of TRIGID’s surface water is provided.  At that point, TMWA will make available 2 acre-feet of “community resources” for every 3 acre-feet of NDOT water rights that are able to be proven and permitted for in-stream flow.  A graphic illustrating this formula is attached.

NDOT Surface Water Rights

NDOT, TRIGID, and TMWA have prepared a separate Water Rights Management Agreement regarding the research, titling, dedication for in-stream flow, and water rights management.  This agreement is in conformance with the intent of Section 7 of the Agreement for Treated Effluent and is being heard by those parties in June.

TROA Compliance

TMWA, in coordination with Reno, Sparks, and TRIGID, has provided input to the Federal Water Master’s RIVERWARE model for the years 2009-2017.  These inputs include Reno and Sparks annual and weekly customer demands, project TRIGID demands, return flow water rights, groundwater and privately owned stored water usage history, and future Reno and Sparks demands.  Based on these years of inputs and the model results, compliance with TROA is operationally feasible.

1. The City Council may approve the agreement as submitted.
2. The City Council may direct the City Manager to make certain amendments to the agreement and return for future consideration.
3. The City Council may reject the agreement outright and provide direction to the City Manager.

I move to approve the Return Flow Management Agreement, as proposed by the City Manager, between Truckee Meadows Water Authority, City of Reno, City of Sparks, And Tahoe-Reno Industrial General Improvement District for the management of various water rights.