Revised water budget for the Fernley area, west-central Nevada, 1979

Abstract

Part of the 120-square-mile Fernley Hydrographic Area is undergoing a rapid transition from rural agriculture to an urban setting because of its 30-mile proximity to the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area. In a growing urban area, an evaluation of the existing water resources is useful in permitting wise management of those resources. A water -budget for average conditions in the Fernley Area as of 1979 indicates that the total estimated inflow (about 45,000 acre-feet per year) was dominated by canal seepage and diversions for irrigation (18,000 and 26,000 acre-feet per year, respectively). Outflow included the following components (with estimated annual quantities in acre-feet): Ground-water underflow (about 10,000); surface-water outflow (4,000); net lake-surface evaporation (6,100); evapotranspiration from croplands (15,000) and from phreatophytes and discharging playa (7,600); and consumptive use of industrial and public-supply pumpage of ground water (600). The outflow estimates totaled 44,000 acre-feet per year.