Saturday, October 10, 2015

California and Nevada Current Reservoir

Northern Nevada Reservoirs Levels


Current ytd level 26%





Current ytd 39.26%




Current ytd 13.26%





Current ytd 84.39%






Current ytd 12.76%









California Reservoir Levels 




Reservoir NameStaIDCapacity
(AF) 		Elevation
(FT) 		Storage
(AF) 		Storage
Change 		% of
Capacity		Average
Storage		% of
Average		Outflow
(CFS) 		Inflow
(CFS) 		Storage - Year
Ago This Date 
  
  TRINITY RIVER          
TRINITY LAKECLE2,447,6502,189.19525,047-2,141211,644,373321,09437588,352
WHISKEYTOWNWHI241,1001,208.52236,370-47698226,5041041,033802231,657
LEWISTONLEW14,6601,900.9613,882-1349513,8671001,3411,27614,427
  
  RUSSIAN RIVER          
SONOMA(WARM SPRINGS)WRS381,000422.11176,381-21246197,31189980145,320
MENDOCINO (COYOTE)COY122,400715.2735,127-1532955,45863983029,571
  
  SACRAMENTO RIVER          
SHASTASHA4,552,000927.701,532,879-5,906342,710,262575,7502,8271,132,371
KESWICKKES23,772584.9922,5016909521,9431036,5056,85522,322
  
  FEATHER RIVER          
OROVILLEORO3,537,577671.181,047,918-3,164302,170,746482,1255771,056,956
ANTELOPEANT22,5664,995.1016,663-167416,88899--------16,368
FRENCHMANFRD55,4775,547.6812,285-182231,82639--------19,460
LAKE DAVISDAV83,0005,760.7037,423-244557,31465--------44,617
  
  YUBA RIVER          
BULLARDS BARBUL966,0001,798.48385,806-1,96440577,93067--------407,094
ENGLEBRIGHTENG70,000523.7767,3671,0789660,508111--------66,665
  
  AMERICAN RIVER          
FOLSOMFOL977,000358.15166,442-1,06317537,90531860347334,323
UNION VALLEYUNV266,3694,821.01148,231-23356154,81196--------145,859
LOON LAKELON69,3066,379.1532,603-304741,68678--------39,800
ICE HOUSEICH43,4965,429.2830,614-117028,000109--------30,511
NIMBUSNAT9,000123.337,946258888,232976688018,223
  
  CACHE CREEK          
INDIAN VALLEYINV300,000----------------141,794------------24,060
  
  STONY CREEK          
BLACK BUTTEBLB143,700440.6632,932-2262333,9499791-1033,537
  
  CALAVERAS RIVER          
NEW HOGANNHG317,000600.6927,559-939122,9022234-342,512
  
  MOKELUMNE RIVER          
CAMANCHECMN417,120181.78114,2132,09327249,688461051,275135,410
PARDEEPAR210,000528.69123,055-2,24559178,653691,3834,498160,781
  
  STANISLAUS RIVER          
DONNELL'SDON64,320----31,014-1854830,104103136----42,955
BEARDSLEYBRD97,800----49,368-7205063,17678497----41,685
TULLOCHTUL67,000500.0655,3685988358,9159439970960,444
NEW MELONESNML2,400,000799.39270,7961,166111,341,894207961,410516,808
  
  TUOLUMNE RIVER          
DON PEDRODNP2,030,000671.00627,497-1,115311,352,65546--------758,996
HETCH HETCHYHTH360,000----------------248,896------------273,700
CHERRY VALLEYCHV273,500----------------131,586------------177,750
  
  MERCED RIVER          
MC CLURE (EXCHEQUER)EXC1,024,600604.1385,169-4428459,567191890113,620
  
  CHOWCHILLA RIVER          
EASTMAN (BUCHANAN)BUC150,000466.8710,576-10751,631201,6581,65611,818
  
  FRESNO RIVER          
HENSLEY (HIDDEN)HID90,000447.274,768-2520,55523014,984
  
  SAN JOAQUIN RIVER          
MILLERTON (FRIANT)MIL520,500490.21188,024-40736206,0579128197182,360
  
  SAN LUIS CREEK          
SAN LUISSNL2,041,000380.40375,905-1,97318991,33838--------449,804
  
  KINGS RIVER          
PINE FLATPNF1,000,000722.06117,30532312339,60635229404114,770
  
  KAWEAH RIVER          
KAWEAH (TERMINUS)TRM185,600593.6516,269-141911,983136952716,098
  
  TULE RIVER          
SUCCESSSCC82,300575.173,014-13411,18127733,553
  
  KERN RIVER          
ISABELLAISB568,0002,522.5030,40405180,4761710011449,589
  
  TRUCKEE RIVER          
STAMPEDESTP226,5005,851.3529,00010013134,59622--------55,700
INDEPENDENCE LAKEINP17,2956,944.7914,404-1628314,56999--------15,831
DONNER LAKEDNN9,7005,928.773,709-23385,33270--------5,297
  
  SANTA YNEZ RIVER          
CACHUMA LAKECCH205,000669.0432,382-5916149,8692227559,998
  
  SOUTH COAST          
PYRAMIDPYM180,0002,574.13164,953-2,11192160,746103--------167,064
CASTAICCAS325,0001,391.00109,36725134254,75143--------100,299
LAKE PERRISPRR131,4521,546.8046,851036100,47747--------53,175





California data can be found at the following link here

The most important column to see storage levels are %of capacity







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Friday, October 9, 2015

How much is an Acre-ft of water? What does it look like

It is hard to understand what an Acre-Ft of water looks like. Tesla wants 2,500 Acre-ft of water but it is hard to see. The video below shows how much water flooded in South Carolina this week. They also have a good graphic representation of what an Acre-ft looks like.

This was on the weather channel this morning

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Monday, October 5, 2015

Why I started this blog

The reason why I started this blog was mainly due to do the lapse in environmental reporting in the news and press. Everyone knows how the press is mainly run by 6 main companies. Reno is not any different to this argument. This drought has been getting worse every year along with the news coverage here in the state. I would encourage anyone who is going to continue reading about the current water issues to watch Cadillac Desert. The links are below it is a 4 part documentary which addresses many of the issues that I will be covering in the following days and weeks. For those of you who are attacking my spelling and writing.I would like you to take it up with Microsoft Office. I am sure it will improve over time as I write more. I have not written in a while and this information is important for people to understand what is occurring around them and why. I do not have time to nick pick over silly little things at this time. You might not think this is a pressing issues but you are wrong. From my calculations, the state of Nevada,where I am living has less than 5 years worth of water left and California is even worse shape. I am posting public information that our public officials do not want the public to know. They are lying to public everyday about how bad our water situation is currently. I will be documenting these at length in this blog. I would encourage those who have read my first post to keep reading. I have lots of information to share. 

Cadillac Desert links











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Saturday, October 3, 2015

The Western Governor’s Association States have No Plans for Severe and On-going Drought Conditions: Part One

Today’s unprecedented drought has left many states in the West clueless at a decent response to it. Although it is not like these states have not experienced drought conditions before. Public documents for the Western Governor’s Association expose what really is taking place on the ground and why this is happening.
In 1996 the Western Governors' Association(WGA) put together a task force in order to look into drought issues. In a report coming out of this task force to address some of the mitigating issues that comes from drought. Here are the three most important issues that came out of this report. The first issue was to “coordinating the drought response needs of the states by immediately identifying barriers to effective response at the federal level.” The next need was for each state “working with existing state, federal, and private entities to develop criteria for assessing various stages of drought and corresponding emergency response measures and mutual assistance.” The final tasks that need to be addressed were the “sharing of solutions and relief measures that can be implemented within our own states and localities.” 1
Six recommendations came out this task force. They are as follows for drought management:

  1. Develop a national drought policy or framework that integrates actions and responsibilities among all levels of government (federal, state, regional and local). This policy should plainly spell out preparedness, response, and mitigation awareness for each entity.
  2. Ensure each state develops a drought contingency plan that includes early detection, decision-making criteria, short- and long-range planning and mitigation. Programs addressing public awareness and education on drought and water conservation should be included.
  3. Establish a regional drought policy and coordinating council to develop sustainable policy, monitor drought conditions and state responses, identify impacts and issues for resolution, facilitate intrastate activities, and work in partnership with federal government to address needs brought on by the drought. The council --consisting of policy makers and drought managers—would assist states—would assist states in developing drought preparedness, response, and mitigation action plans. Finally, it could be heightened awareness of drought and its impacts at both Administration and congressional levels of government.
  4. Establish a federal interagency coordinating group with a designation lead agency for drought coordination with states and regional agencies. This group should determine the federal government's role in drought response and mitigation. They should also seek to focus federal response and mitigation. They should also focus federal response and information so that states and local governments have access to “one-stop shopping.”
  5. Provide federal funding the National Drought Mitigation Center to assist states with drought preparedness, planning, and preparedness activities; provide a regional/national climate monitoring system; and develop a national/regional database of state drought response resources.
  6. Ensure drought is an essential element in any national discussion of water policy. This is particularly true for western water policy, where water is critical to the regions sustainability. Drought must also addressed as an integral part of the Western Policy Review Commission's assessment currently in progress.2
Let's take a in-depth look into what has been done since this report by evaluating the national response and then the response by WGA, California and Nevada to the current drought. Many states and cities have public documents which are available to the public to read. By evaluating these documents we can see what has been planned for and what has not and why. Let's first take a look at the National Plan for drought.
One item which was develop out of this report was the National Drought Monitor map which was developed in 1999 by NOAA, Department of Agriculture and National Drought Mitigation Center(NDMC) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.3 Also in 1995 the National Drought Mitigation Center was established at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The main goal of this center is for education, policy, planning, research and regional drought preparedness.4 So it appears that some of the recommendations from 1995 were implemented.
The Western Drought Coordinating Council (WDCC) was established in 1997-1999. The WDCC created a report in order to respond to findings in the 1996 WGA report.5 This report was created to respond to legislative and executive problems to the 1996 drought. Out of this report it identified five legislative and executive issues on the national response to drought. It also created responses and the status of each of these issues. They mainly deal with the FEMA and the USDA response. Also it entails the Farm Bill and USDA outcomes to some of these issues. They also have actions plans long-term planning for the legislative and executive branches. The second half of the report focuses on recommendations for the drought management, agriculture, water resources, wildfire and forest health. So many of the issues which are current today with the drought have been brought up in these documents created almost 10 years ago.
The National Drought Policy Commission's was created in 1998-2000. At its site it states: “In recent years, droughts have caused damaging and costly economic and environmental impacts. Past discussion on drought management with the Western Governors' Association included recommendations to "develop a national framework that integrates actions and responsibilities among all levels of government (Federal, State, regional, local, and tribal)."  On July 16, 1998, Congress passed the National Drought Policy Act of 1998, Public Law 105-199, which established the National Drought Policy Commission.  The Commission is composed of fifteen members, representative of all levels of government and other drought impacted groups, and is charged by Congress to provide advice and recommendations on the creation of an integrated, coordinated Federal policy designed to prepare for and respond to serious drought emergencies.”6 Once again another report was made on its findings and they had some very specific recommendations for both the federal and state outcomes. The number one topic was preparedness as a root issue of the report. As we dig further into this topic we will evaluate how prepared everyone is at the moment. One can also notice the break in reports to droughts from 2000-2007. One could assume when President George W. Bush took office he saw no need to push any climate change issues or drought issues for federal funding or planning during his administration. 7
In July of 2007 the Geological Society of America provided congressional testimony on managing drought. Another report was commissioned and they created several recommendations.8 As we can see more research on this topic and recommendations for the drought issues were addressed at this time. There are three more parts to this story as to who created response plans and drought policy.
We cannot forgot the Western Governors' Association push to create the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) Act in 2006. 9 The law calls for an interagency, multi-partner approach to drought monitoring, forecasting, and early warning led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NIDIS is envisioned as a dynamic and accessible drought risk information system that provides users with the capacity to determine the potential impacts of drought, and the decision support tools needed to better prepare for and mitigate the effects of drought.”10 The WGA also established a drought forum in 2015 to begin dialog into some of the pressing drought issues that many of the Western states were facing. 11
Finally in 2013 Obama created the National Drought Resilience Partnership in order to provide federal and state preparedness and cooperation to drought and climate change. Once again this is another place for research, education, planning, reports and programs which the states can take advantage of for their drought preparedness.12 Once again we see some of these same reoccurring issues which keep coming up in all of these reports, sites and commissions. So with all of these places where the states had information, data and support to go to why has the response by California and Nevada been so pitfall. Let's explore this is part 2.


1. Drought Response Action Plan, Western Governors’ Association, November 1996, p. 1
2  Ibid, p. 5.
3  http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/AboutUSDM/Background.aspx
4  http://drought.unl.edu/AboutUs/MissionandHistory.aspx
5  http://drought.unl.edu/archive/wdcc/products/infoproducts.html
6  http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/drought/default.htm
7  http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/airenergy.asp
11 http://www.westgov.org/drought-forum

12 http://www.drought.gov/drought/content/ndrp
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Friday, October 2, 2015

Current Nevada Reservoir levels as of September 30, 2015

Data taken from NCRS website

Lake Tahoe: 0% yes there is water in Lake Tahoe but there is no storage in it since it is below the rim.

Boca Reservoir, CA:14%

Donner Lake, CA: 42%

Independence Lake, CA: 86%

Prosser Reservoir, CA: 26%

Stampede : 13%

Lahontan: 2%

Bridgeport Reservoir, CA: 7%

Topaz Lake,CA :4%

Rye Patch, NV: Not Available at this time

Wild Horse: 14%

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Sunday, September 20, 2015

Why the opening of Telsa Giga-factory and Switch will be the last nail in our coffin?

In the state of Nevada we are in an unprecedented drought. We are in the 4th year going on the 5th year of a severe drought. Lake Tahoe no longer naturally drains to allow the Truckee River to flow as a river to Pyramid Lake (home to the Paiute tribe)( http://tmwa.com/lake_level ). It currently is 10 feet below the rim. Many businesses have already suffered this last winter such as the small ski resorts such as Homewood to Donner Ski ranch (http://www.outsideonline.com/1806926/sierra-nevada-ski-resorts-close-over-lack-snow) as the winter progressed many ski areas switched over to summer time activities such as hiking and biking (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ski-season-drought-20150403-story.html) We are living in unprecedented times as we are facing multiple disasters all at once. 
In Cadillac Desert written by Marc Reisner Los Angles was a desert long before water allowed it grow into the Hollywood of today and allowed the population grow the state of California beyond its means. This tale of growing the West has been played out in many cities such as Las Vegas, Denver, Reno, and countless more. Also in history it has been documented where severe drought can play a role in downfall of society such as the Anasazi whom lived in the Southwest. At the height of the Anasazi culture they experienced and unprecedented drought (http://tuvalu.santafe.edu/~johnson/articles.anasazi.html) which might have caused war and migrations.
The city of Reno and Sparks receives it drinking water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Our drinking water comes from 80% from the reservoirs and 20% groundwater. Last years snow pack in the Sierra Nevada’s was 25% of normal (http://www.weather.com/climate-weather/drought/news/california-sierra-snowpack-record-low-april-2015) which does not help recharge our reservoirs.  According to the current drought monitor 95% of the state of Nevada is in some stage of drought from Exceptional to moderate (http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu). Can Nevada grow our economy in a 4th year going on 5th year of a severe drought and how will Telsa and other businesses impact our water supplies?
Every politician and businessperson in the Reno area believes Telsa will save us?  I am going to document and explain why this will acerbate our current water supplies and kill our town into a non-living desert.  Edward Abby stated it quite well the predicament that we face,
“The Developers, of course –the politicians, businessmen, bankers administrators, engineers-they see it somewhat other-wise and complain most bitterly and interminably of desperate water shortage, especially in the Southwest. They propose schemes of inspiring proportions for diverting water by the damful from the Columbia, or even the Yukon River, and channeling it overland down into Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. What for? “In anticipation of future needs, in order to provide for the continued industrial and population growth of the Southwest.” And in such an answer we see that it’s only the numbers game again, the monomania of small and very simple minds in the grip of obsession. They cannot see that growth for the sake of growth is a cancerous madness, the Phoenix and Albuquerque will not be better cities to live when their populations are doubled again and again. They would never understand that an economic system which can only expand or expire must be false to all that is human (Desert Solitaire, p126-7).
                  On September 5, 2014 Telsa motors choose Nevada more specifically Storey County for its long awaited Gigafactory (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/09/04/tesla-gigafactory-reno/15095411/ ).  Here is another view of the site where the building will be 10 million square feet (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3093151/A-glimpse-inside-world-s-biggest-battery-factory-Drone-captures-Tesla-s-new-Gigafactory-high-definition.html). It also recently choose a local Nevada mine for the local source of Lithium needed for the battery production (http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/09/tesla-signs-another-deal-with-a-company-developing-a-lithium-mine/). Telsa is scheduled to open sometime next year to start production on the batteries for its new model 3 affordable car for $35,000 (http://blogs.barrons.com/stockstowatchtoday/2015/09/17/tesla-why-the-gigafactory-will-make-or-break-the-model-3/). The Gigafactory is located at the Reno-Tahoe Industrial Center where several big name companies currently have a big footprint such as Wal-Mart, Zulilly, Toy R Us, and now Switch and Apple’s cloud based server center just to name a few (http://www.areadevelopment.com/stateResources/nevada/tahoe-reno-industrial-center3002.shtml).
                  Let’s evaluate both Telsa and Switch and the amount of water that could be will be used in their businesses?  Telsa electric cars are advertised as green and zero emissions since it uses an electric battery not gas. At first sight one can see how this can make one feel good about buying a luxury electric car. 
Let’s look at where they are getting their materials and the lithium-ion battery manufacturing process first.  The RGJ has reported that this process is not water intensive but it is resource intensive.  Watch this video of the battery process made by MIT http://video.mit.edu/watch/how-lithium-ion-batteries-are-made-59/ . This battery process is very energy intensive and environmental side effects to one health and environment or groundwater. The EPA conducted a study that stated in 2013 “The study showed that the batteries that use cathodes with nickel and cobalt, as well as solvent-based electrode processing, have the highest potential for environmental impacts. These impacts include resource depletion, global warming, ecological toxicity, and human health impacts. The largest contributing processes include those associated with the production, processing, and use of cobalt and nickel metal compounds, which may cause adverse respiratory, pulmonary, and neurological effects in those exposed” (http://energyskeptic.com/2015/epa-lithium-ion-battery/).  I am not sure what part of this impact one would like to have in your backyard? The lithium Ion manufacturing process is also is facing it own set of one is which cost   (https://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bridge/133842/134258.aspx).    Keeping the batteries cost down will be challenge. Also I am not sure if we even have the technology to fix this once the damage is already done to the environment? One can only look at the Nevada test site as an example. The nuclear tests done in the desert in the 50s will be in the landscape for thousand of years to come and it health effects from nuclear can be seen in Chernobyl years later.  
Another issue not address by the RGJ was the Telsa building is huge approximately 10 million square feet as large as the Pentagon as reported by the Dailymail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3093151/A-glimpse-inside-world-s-biggest-battery-factory-Drone-captures-Tesla-s-new-Gigafactory-high-definition.html) . In this building water would have be used through out correct. One would need to flush the toilet at some point during the day. I am also sure water would be in other areas of the factory. It has been reported in other sources that Telsa will need about 2,500 Acre-Ft of water at the time for full operations and they will start with 500 Acre-ft on the low end of water usage which is needed which converts to 162,925,713 billion of gallons.  (https://chargedevs.com/newswire/tesla-gigafactory-water-worries/).  We do not know if this is for the year or day or what the time scale is for this amount of water. They also have discussed the delicate water issues with state officials so they are aware we are in drought and they need water to operate but again Telsa is based out of California, which, also is in a severe drought like Nevada.
How much water is 2,500 Acre-ft? Let convert this into gallons, which is 814,628,567 billion gallons that is a lot of water. In an RGJ investigation they found that the top commercial users used 6.7 billion gallons (RGJ, July 25,2015). This is an increase of 116X in water usage to any business in Reno or Sparks. It has also been reported that the Reno Tahoe Industrial Center allocates to businesses .5 acre-ft of water that is approximately 162,925 gallons of water that is a 1000x increase to any other business currently in the industrial center.  Even on Telsa’s low end of water usage of 500 Acre-ft, which converts to 162,925,713 billions of gallons, if these numbers do not make your head spin let’s look some more into Storey County and they’re current drought issues and the Reno Tahoe Industrial Center water.
Reno Tahoe Industrial Center has three sources of water that they use. The first place is Truckee River water, a groundwater well and reclaimed water. They pumped the Truckee River water via an extraction well over into other holding areas within the complex. The Truckee water is allocated via water rights and also dependant upon that we have a flowing river with water in it. I am not sure if anyone has looked at the Truckee River but it is not flowing like a river currently here is a current link.  http://www.reno.gov/get-involved/watch-and-learn/reno-webcams/whitewater-park-webcam Also according to USGS date the river is flowing at approximately 7.8 CFS today (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ca/nwis/uv?site_no=10338000). So it is my guess this source water has been significantly cut back just like other users in the region due to this drought. Another source of water is a groundwater. According to an RGJ article this well is 1000 feet deep and has approximately 9.8 billion gallon of water in it (RGJ, September 5, 2014) they might also have another well to recharge this aquifer but they have not disclosed any of this information. I am not sure if the general public understands how aquifers work but this water is considered to be ancient water or old water and they can have very long recharge rates into the thousands of years. We are also over pumping and over using our groundwater into unsustainable rates currently with this biblical drought.
The final source of water is recycled water or gray water. Most people might not understand what “gray water” is so I will try to help explain. Gray water is water that has been treated by the water treatment plant but it’s not to drinking water standards. Most of this water has been treated for watering our lawns and landscape. In many communities around the West this is the purple water line that one sees while walking. This water is non-potable water so you do not want to drink it. The Reno Tahoe Industrial Center has a wastewater facilities plant on their property. They treat the water and then reuse it again through out the park. So as long as you have water that can be recycled you can use this process. The current drought is so unprecedented that cities like LA are looking at using this process since the population growth and Colorado River water will not be sustainable. (http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-pushes-to-use-shower-bath-water-to-combat-drought-20150415-story.html)  They also claim they have not been impacted from this current drought. They are able to pump 2-3 millions gallons a day or 90 millions gallons a month or 1,080,000 billion gallons for a year. Which will not meet the current water needs for Telsa and its plant at the time of full production.
The other elephant in the room is Climate Change or Abrupt Climate Change and how that has exuberated our drought currently. A currently study done by the University of Arizona tree ring tells us that our current snow pack from the Sierra Nevada’s is considered to be a 500 year low (http://www.theweathernetwork.com/us/news/articles/us-weather/sierra-nevada-snowpack-estimated-at-500-year-low/57359/). This can be seen in our current reservoir situation. Data provided by NCRS as of September 1, 2015 shows that the record low reservoirs levels throughout the state the only full reservoirs are Independence reservoirs which is the TMWA drought reserves currently at 91% and Lake Mohave currently 93% full (http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/support/water/SummaryReports/NV/BRes_9_2015.pdf?) 
Now it has been proposed by Reno Tahoe Industrial Center to transfer gray water from the Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) down to the Telsa operations by the RGJ on June 20th by Anjeanette Damon. Anjeanette does do a good job at pointing out that they would need a pipe to transfer this water down and TMWA does not seem really excited about this prospect. They comment how they might need the water to recharge their own aquifer. Uuum what is up with this? I will explain later on.
Let’s first look at the current drought conditions in Storey County. On May 28, 2014 the USDA declared Storey County as a natural disaster area due to drought. (http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/newsReleases?area=newsroom&subject=landing&topic=edn&newstype=ednewsrel&type=detail&item=ed_20140528_rel_0097.html)  Farmers are now able to get funds for disaster relief in Storey County. So the drought is hurting business already with the farming within the state of Nevada. Also the Governor Sandoval established a statewide drought forum on April 8, 2015 (http://drought.nv.gov/About/Executive_Order/) so the state is also in a world of hurt right now. In another post I will go into further analysis of the drought forum documents and issues.
Let’s take a quick look at Switch the data center just to add more numbers on top of the ones we already have. Switch’s building will be 3 million square feet and to take 5-10 years to build. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/01/16/us/ap-us-switch-nevada-data-center.html One of the dirty little secrets of data centers is that they need a lot of water to cool the servers. They also chew up a lot of other energy cooling the building as reported by the New York Times they use 130 million gallons of water for operations more than golf courses or almond orchards or approximately 4 Acre-FT of water. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10007111583511843695404581067903126039290 As our drought continues there will be less water available for use. There are already water wars taking place in California between the common user and big business. It sounds like we are witnessing the start of this here with Telsa and Switch.
I see a couple possible scenarios playing out with Telsa and water in the region. The major reason why they are asking for water from TMWA is that they are the senior water rights holder in the Truckee River. If you get cut off go upstream user who has water but the only problem with this is that TMWA serves the greater Reno and Sparks area. It will be interesting to watch to see how desperate Telsa and Switch get to water for production. If they bully the city of Reno and Sparks into giving up water to big business all for sake of a car and growth of Telsa. It will impact local water users in major cut backs and water shortages. The other scenario that could play out could be we have another huge economic crash and they never open. Also Telsa could open up but it will never be able to meet production goals as they plan. I am sure if they were really desperate for water they could go down to Lake Mead but I doubt Las Vegas would be willing to sell any of its water to have it piped up north. Also this would be very unfeasible since it would cost millions or billions of money one of which Telsa does not have nor the state of Nevada does not have either. Also Lake Mead water levels are critically low at this point and it’s a matter of times before Los Angles and Nevada gets cut off.  Or they can do it the old-fashioned way and steal water from TMWA with water trucks for production. This is already playing out in California for example Tom Selleck stole water from a neighboring water district and he was caught and fined. (http://www.npr.org/2015/07/09/421528595/tom-selleck-accused-of-stealing-water-for-california-ranch)

Any way you look at the numbers they do not add and what your politicians and local businesses men are selling you is snake oil. We do not have the water in the area for Telsa’s production and Switch. As a resident of this area I would ask everyone more questions and what they are telling you is a bunch of BS. This drought will continue past 8 years and beyond so one needs to look at what is more important for living at this point water for living or a $35,000 car that will destroy our water resources in the area.
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