You have probably heard the term "OCAP" before. What is it, and what does it stand for? OCAP is a government acronym for Operating Criteria and Procedures ("OCAP"). It is the Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation’s rules and regulations for operation of the Newlands Reclamation Project. The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District by contract with the United States has operated and maintained the Newlands Reclamation Project since January 1, 1927. An OCAP was first developed in 1967 by the federal government to reduce or minimize the water used by the Project from the Truckee River because of the impacts on Pyramid Lake. The more water the Project diverted from the Truckee River the less went into Pyramid Lake.

In 1973, as the result of a lawsuit brought by the Pyramid Lake Indian Tribe against the United States, the terms of the 1967 OCAP were modified. That modified OCAP was very controversial and has been the subject of much litigation since. It is TCID's position that the 1973 OCAP was not enforced because of a lawsuit over its validity and the failure of the government to do an environmental assessment on the impacts to the water users of its provisions.

In 19884, after the Alpine Decree (1980) was entered – that decree is the federal court decision that established the water rights on the Carson River – and the United States Supreme Court had entered its decision (1983) stating that the water rights on the Newlands Project cannot be shifted by the United States from the Project to Pyramid Lake because the beneficial ownership of the water right is with the water user and not the United States, the OCAP was modified substantially and was promulgated annually. Finally, in 1988 the United States submitted to the federal court an OCAP that was intended to be final. That 1988 OCAP is what guides the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District in its operations today. The principles of the final OCAP as intended and stated by the United States are to:

1. Provide water deliveries to meet the full water entitlement to the user measured at the farm headgate.
2. Meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act as they specifically related to the Truckee-River/Pyramid Lake Cui-ui.
3. Fulfill Federal trust responsibilities to the Pyramid lake Paiute Tribe and Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Indian Tribes.
4. Protect wetland and wildlife values in both the Truckee and Carson River basins.
5. Give cognizance to the State laws affecting water rights and uses.
6. Provide for stable economics and improve the quality of life in the region to the extent it is influenced by Department of Interior-managed resources and facilities.
7. Allow for local control and initiative to the maximum extent possible; and
8. Provide for stability and predictability through straightforward operation based on actual conditions instead of forecasts.

The federal government recognized in developing the final OCAP that the water users have a right to receive their full entitlement. However, the key word in that recognition is "entitlement." The OCAP states that only "eligible" land is entitled to receive water. Eligible land is defined in the OCAP as land that has a valid water right as shown on the water right maps of the District.

The quantity of water that can be delivered to the water user is limited to the amount of water associated with the water-righted irrigated acreage of the user rather than the users’ total water right acreage owned. In other words, if you do not irrigate all of you water-righted land then you can only receive water for the land you irrigate. If you water duty is 3.5 acre feet per acre and you own 100 acres of water right land, then the total amount of water you can receive – assuming it is available and not a drought year – would be 350 acre feet. However, under the terms of the final OCAP, if you only irrigate 80 acres of your 100 acres of water right, you will only be entitled to receive 280 acre feet of water (80 x 3.5). This part of the criteria has resulted in many water users receiving less water than they had in the past.

Another method in the OCAP that reduces the water use on the Project is the establishment of target goals for improving the efficiencies of the Project to 68.4%. To date the District has not been able to achieve an efficiency any greater than 63%. The efficiency of the District operations is determined by adding together the water measured at the Wadsworth gauging station on the Truckee Canal; the water measured in the Carson River below Lahontan Dam, and the amount of water measured in the Rock Dam ditch near Lahontan Dam. This total is then reduced by the water measured at the Hazen gauge on the Truckee Canal – water that passes this gauge should flow into Lahontan Reservoir – and the estimated losses in the Truckee Canal. The result is the total amount of water credited to delivery to the water users. The answer equals the District’s level of efficiency on operating the Newlands Reclamation Project.

If the District fails to meet the targeted efficiency, then a calculation is made as to how much water was used or diverted in excess of what it would have taken if the efficiency target had been met. Once that total excess reaches 26,000 acre feet, the OCAP requires that the District reduce the water delivery in the following year to all water users by the amount of that excess. If in the future this provision is enforced, it would mean at least a 12% reduction to the water users in the following year.

The District recognizes that the OCAP can be both beneficial and detrimental to Project water users. Whether the OCAP helps or hurts the water users depends upon the District’s ability to meet the OCAP efficiencies. The more efficient the District operates the better it is for the water users. The more efficient we are the more water is available to all.

An old story can be used to illustrate my point. It is called the "Tragedy of the Commons." Many herdsmen graced their cattle on a common pasture. Each one thought to himself that he would get a little ahead and maybe increase his production by adding one more cow to the pasture. He thought to himself, "What will it hurt to add one more cow to the pasture?" Soon every herdsman was adding one more cow with the result that eventually the pasture became over-grazed and every herdsmen suffered losses.

The same could happen to each of us taking water from a common source. "What will it hurt if I use just a little more water than the next guy?" We will all benefit if we leave our one cow of "increased water use" off the pasture. Water conservation is a cumulative act. Water conserved by you adds to the water conserved by others and ultimately there is more water available for everyone.