Author(s): Karletta Chief; Edward S. Chew; Kiersten Miranda; Mahesh R. Gautam; William J. Smith Jr.
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Abstract: Devising water sharing strategies is an integral part of managing water resources in the arid western US. Water rights in the Truckee River Basin in northwestern Nevada have been a point of contention for more than acentury. Early decrees and agreements favored stakeholders with more power, which left others dissatisfied and led to prolonged litigation over water rights allocations. Negotiations began to take place between majorstakeholders in the basin beginning in 1990s, resulting in the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA) of2008. This paper studies the evolution of stakeholder power, negotiations, and water sharing strategy in the Truckee River Basin, using Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal (PLPT) water rights as a case study. A framework to evaluate stakeholder power is established and tested through interviews with stakeholders in the basin. Results show that TROA reflects the inclusion of negotiations and shared power positions between stakeholders.
Year: 2018