Maybe I've got this wrong, but from what I understand, rafting on the Truckee River from Tahoe City to Alpine Meadows is canceled until August despite having as much water as we've ever had. Why? Because the water will be temporarily too low for rafting.
So they've decided to limit what flows out of Lake Tahoe for the next two months. This will sadden many, many people who come to North Lake Tahoe for rafting.
However, I understand. I once stood on the shore of the Truckee River in Reno as the river was about to rise over the edge and flood downtown Reno. The river was a roaring, gushing, whitewater torrent carrying water from Lake Tahoe. Although I was safe, and it would have been easy to run up a nearby slope if the river quickly rose even higher, it was actually kind of scary to see that much water barely contained by the river banks.
When people conceive of their building projects and activities near slow-flowing streams, it's hard to imagine those little trickles turning into deadly, monster flows.
These situations even catch campers unaware. Countless people have set up a peaceful campsite near a nice little stream in the woods without thinking that the warm afternoon temperatures are melting huge quantities of snow upstream. Those campers sometimes crawl into their sleeping bags and tents, lulled to sleep by the pleasant sound of the creek. But the lag time with melting snow in the afternoon is often such that the new meltwater collects in an increasing gusher of water that reaches peak flow after midnight. Those campers are asleep when the creek rises to engulf their campsite and tent in icewater and carry them all downstream at 2 a.m.
So we'll be patient and wait until August. The water deciders will open the dam then.
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