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<br />, <br /> <br />~lJOg37 <br /> <br />The chief rivers in Nevada are the Colorado, Humboldt, Truckee, <br />Carson, and Walker. The Colorado flows along the very southeast <br />boundary of the state. 'rhe o.ther four rivers ,end in sinks or lakes <br />within the state. The Humboldt River flows westerly across the <br />northern portion of the state and is the longest river in the <br />state, 'rhis river ends in the Humboldt Sink. The Walker, Carson, <br />and Truckee rivers, also located in the northern part of the state, <br />originate at the summit of the Sierra Nevada mountains and flow to <br />the east ending in Walker Lake, Carson Sink, and pyramid Lake <br />respectively, They are relatively short rivers of approximately <br />161 km (100 miles) in length, <br /> <br />The first residents of the state were Indians, who lived close to <br />the various bodies of water which provided food and materials to <br />build. shelters. The first white settlers arrived in Northern <br />Nevada in the 1840's. As with the Indians, they knew that they <br />could only survive if they lived near the rivers and lakes. <br /> <br />Discovery of gold in the Comstock lode, between the Carson and <br />Truckee Rivers at. the site of the present day Virginia City, <br />Nevada brought a surge of additional people to Nevada. This, in <br />turn, resulted in an additional demand for agricultural products. <br />Because of the arid climate, farming was successful only along the <br />rivers where water could be diverted for irrigation of the crops. <br />Most of the settlements and farming were concentrated along the <br />Carson and Truckee Rivers. As the demand for water increased and- <br />competition for available water became more intense, plans were <br />made to increase utilization of the water from these rivers. <br /> <br />By the turn of the century, the demand for water fromtl'lese two <br />rivers from agricultural users as well as mining and municipal <br />interests, had exceeded the supply of water available in the late <br />summer. Plenty of water was available during the spring of the. <br />year as approximately 60% of the annual flow of the rivers occurs <br />from snow 'mel t in the. Sierra Nevada Mountains in the months of <br />April, Hay, and June. <br /> <br />In 1903, the U.S. Government authorized the construction of the <br />Newlands Project in Nevada. The purpose of the project was' to <br />irrigate over 114,120 ha (282,000 acres) of agricultural land near <br />the Carson sink, the terminal point of the Carson River. The plans <br />called for constructing a large storage reservoir (Lahontan) on the <br />Carson River to capture the spring runoff, and then supplement its <br />supply with water diverted from the Truckee River delivered through <br />a 51.5 km (32 mile) interbasin canal to the Lahontan Reservoir. As <br />construction on the project progressed and new land was' brought <br />into production, it was evident that there would not be enough <br />water available to irrigate the entire area originally planned. <br />Therefore, the amount of land available for irrigation water was <br />scaled back to 29,500 ha (73,000 acres). <br /> <br />2 <br />