Acre Feet Of Water In Lake Tahoe

Lake tahoe inflow streams contribute 310 000 acre feet 0 38 km 3 of the 530 000 acre feet 0 65 km 3 of water that flows through lake tahoe every year.

Acre feet of water in lake tahoe. An average california household uses between one half and one acre foot of water per year for indoor and outdoor use. The lake level is controlled by lake tahoe dam built in 1913 at the lake s only outlet the truckee river at tahoe city. Lake tahoe is the second deepest lake in the united states. At its deepest point the lake is 1 685 feet deep making the eighth deepest lake in the world.

Lake tahoe s natural rim sits at 6 223 feet but lake maximum capacity set by a legal decree in 1915 is 6 229 1 feet which gives the water master the ability to control the lake s level between. It is the largest alpine lake in north america holding 122 160 280 acre feet of water when full. South lake tahoe legendary lake tahoe straddling the state line between california and nevada at an elevation of 6 225 feet is a lake of superlatives and california state gamefish records. Its deepest points are in crystal bay at 1 637 ft 499 m and off rubicon point 1 645 ft 501 m.

Put in perspective all the extra water in the lake now that wasn t there three years ago is roughly 1 million acre feet or 313 billion gallons enough water to meet the needs of 5 million. But what is an acre foot. That translates to 558 536 7 acre feet or enough to fill hawthorne s walker lake which has a capacity of a million acre feet in two years. That means 182 billion gallons of water simply vaporized from the lake in 2014 according to schladow s math.

In the water world water is commonly measured in acre feet. With a lake surface area of 191 square miles 122 200 acres and 496 km a maximum depth of over 1 600 feet over 450 m an average depth of 989 feet a mean depth of 984 feet 300 m and the total capacity of lake tahoe is 122 160 280 acre ft 39 trillion gallons of water. One acre foot equals about 326 000 gallons or enough water to cover an acre of land about the size of a football field one foot deep. On average according to figures from the watermaster s office some 500 000 acre feet of water run into the lake from the multitude of streams in the lake tahoe watershed and from precipitation that falls directly on the lake s surface.

If 360 000 acre feet evaporate that only leaves some 140 000 acre feet to flow down to reno and beyond.