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Pyramid Lake is the geographic sink of the Truckee River Basin, 40 mi (64 km) northeast of Reno. Pyramid Lake is fed by the Truckee River, which is mostly the outflow from Lake Tahoe. The Truckee River enters Pyramid Lake at its southern end. Pyramid Lake has no outlet, with water leaving only by evaporation, or sub-surface seepage (an endorheic lake). The lake has about 10% of the area of the Great Salt Lake, but it has about 25% more volume. The salinity is approximately 1/6 that of sea water. Although clear Lake Tahoe forms the headwaters that drain to Pyramid Lake, the Truckee River delivers more turbid waters to Pyramid Lake after traversing the steep Sierra terrain and collecting moderately high silt-loaded surface runoff. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Lahontan (~890 feet deep), the lake area was inhabited by the 19th-century Paiute, who used the Tui chub and Lahontan cutthroat trout from the lake(the former is now endangered and the latter is threatened). The lake was first mapped in 1844 by John C. Frémont, the American discoverer of the lake who also gave it its English title. In the 19th century two battles were fought near the lake, major actions in the Paiute War. In the 1960s a marker was placed commemorating these battles. Because of water diversion beginning in 1905 by Derby Dam, the lake's existence was threatened, and the Paiute sued the Department of the Interior. By the mid-1970s, the lake had lost 80 feet of depth, and according to Paiute fisheries officials, the life of the lake was seriously under threat. Pyramid Lake is located in southeastern Washoe County in western Nevada. It is in an elongated intermontane basin between the Lake Range on the east, the Virginia Mountains on the west and the Pah Rah Range on the southwest. The Fox Range and the Smoke Creek Desert lie to the north. In a parallel basin to the east of the Lake Range is Winnemucca Lake now a dry lake bed. Prior to the construction of the Derby Dam in 1905 both lake levels stood at near 3,880 ft (1,180 m).[8] Following the dam completion the water levels dropped to 3,867 ft (1,179 m) and 3,853 ft (1,174 m) for Pyramid and Winnemucca respectively. In 1957 Pyramid Lake level was at 3,802 ft (1,159 m) and the dry Winnemucca Lake bed at 3,780 ft (1,150 m) had been dry since the 1930s. The lake is the largest remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan that covered much of northwestern Nevada at the end of the last ice age. Pyramid Lake was the deepest point in Lake Lahontan, reaching an estimated 890 feet (270 m) due to its low level relative to the surrounding basins. The name of the lake comes from the impressive cone or pyramid shaped tufa formations found in the lake and along the shores. The largest such formation, Anaho Island, is home to a large colony of American White Pelicans and is restricted for ecological reasons. Access to the Needles, another spectacular tufa formation at the northern end of the lake has also been restricted due to recent vandalism. Major fish species include the cui-ui lakesucker, which is endemic to Pyramid Lake, the Tui chub and Lahontan cutthroat trout (the world record cutthroat trout was caught in Pyramid Lake). The former is endangered, and the latter is threatened. Both species were of critical importance to the Paiute people in pre-contact times. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Lake_(Nevada) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...
Pyramid Lake is the geographic sink of the Truckee River Basin, 40 mi (64 km) northeast of Reno. Pyramid Lake is fed by the Truckee River, which is mostly the outflow from Lake Tahoe. The Truckee River enters Pyramid Lake at its southern end. Pyramid Lake has no outlet, with water leaving only by evaporation, or sub-surface seepage (an endorheic lake). The lake has about 10% of the area of the Great Salt Lake, but it has about 25% more volume. The salinity is approximately 1/6 that of sea water. Although clear Lake Tahoe forms the headwaters that drain to Pyramid Lake, the Truckee River delivers more turbid waters to Pyramid Lake after traversing the steep Sierra terrain and collecting moderately high silt-loaded surface runoff. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Lahontan (~890 feet deep), the lake area was inhabited by the 19th-century Paiute, who used the Tui chub and Lahontan cutthroat trout from the lake(the former is now endangered and the latter is threatened). The lake was first mapped in 1844 by John C. Frémont, the American discoverer of the lake who also gave it its English title. In the 19th century two battles were fought near the lake, major actions in the Paiute War. In the 1960s a marker was placed commemorating these battles. Because of water diversion beginning in 1905 by Derby Dam, the lake's existence was threatened, and the Paiute sued the Department of the Interior. By the mid-1970s, the lake had lost 80 feet of depth, and according to Paiute fisheries officials, the life of the lake was seriously under threat. Pyramid Lake is located in southeastern Washoe County in western Nevada. It is in an elongated intermontane basin between the Lake Range on the east, the Virginia Mountains on the west and the Pah Rah Range on the southwest. The Fox Range and the Smoke Creek Desert lie to the north. In a parallel basin to the east of the Lake Range is Winnemucca Lake now a dry lake bed. Prior to the construction of the Derby Dam in 1905 both lake levels stood at near 3,880 ft (1,180 m).[8] Following the dam completion the water levels dropped to 3,867 ft (1,179 m) and 3,853 ft (1,174 m) for Pyramid and Winnemucca respectively. In 1957 Pyramid Lake level was at 3,802 ft (1,159 m) and the dry Winnemucca Lake bed at 3,780 ft (1,150 m) had been dry since the 1930s. The lake is the largest remnant of ancient Lake Lahontan that covered much of northwestern Nevada at the end of the last ice age. Pyramid Lake was the deepest point in Lake Lahontan, reaching an estimated 890 feet (270 m) due to its low level relative to the surrounding basins. The name of the lake comes from the impressive cone or pyramid shaped tufa formations found in the lake and along the shores. The largest such formation, Anaho Island, is home to a large colony of American White Pelicans and is restricted for ecological reasons. Access to the Needles, another spectacular tufa formation at the northern end of the lake has also been restricted due to recent vandalism. Major fish species include the cui-ui lakesucker, which is endemic to Pyramid Lake, the Tui chub and Lahontan cutthroat trout (the world record cutthroat trout was caught in Pyramid Lake). The former is endangered, and the latter is threatened. Both species were of critical importance to the Paiute people in pre-contact times. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Lake_(Nevada) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...

Pyramid Lake: The Dying Sea of the Paiute

nevadalakepaiutetufaendangered
5 min read

Forty miles north of Reno, in desert that looks like it never knew water, a lake appears like a mirage that forgot to vanish. Pyramid Lake is 27 miles long and impossibly blue - the largest natural lake in Nevada, remnant of an ice-age sea that once covered much of the Great Basin. The pyramids that give it its name are tufa formations rising from the water, limestone spires created when underwater springs met alkaline lake water. They're eerie, ancient, beautiful. The lake is owned by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, who have lived here for at least 10,000 years. The cui-ui fish that sustained them exists nowhere else on Earth. When upstream dams and diversions nearly killed the lake in the 20th century, the Paiute fought back - and won, mostly. The lake survives. The question is for how long.

The Ancient Sea

Pyramid Lake is what's left of Lake Lahontan, which covered much of Nevada during the last ice age - 8,500 square miles of water where there's now desert. As the climate warmed, Lahontan shrank, leaving Pyramid Lake and a few other isolated remnants. The tufa formations mark ancient shorelines and underwater springs; they grew slowly over thousands of years, layer upon layer of limestone precipitating from the mineral-rich water. The lake has no outlet - water leaves only through evaporation, concentrating minerals, making the lake alkaline enough to irritate skin. The pyramids are the lake's signature, ancient architecture shaped by chemistry, standing witness to a wetter world.

The Paiute

The Pyramid Lake Paiute have lived here since the ice age ended - their ancestors watched Lake Lahontan shrink, adapted to the desert it left behind, and built a culture around the lake's fish. The cui-ui, a sucker fish found only in Pyramid Lake, was central to Paiute life for millennia. The Lahontan cutthroat trout, the world's largest cutthroat species, provided additional protein. When John C. Frémont arrived in 1844, he named the pyramids and moved on; the Paiute stayed, already ancient, watching newcomers claim their world. The tribe was eventually confined to a reservation - but the reservation included the lake, a decision that would matter enormously later.

The Dying

The Truckee River feeds Pyramid Lake - the same river that once drained Lake Tahoe. In 1905, the Newlands Project began diverting Truckee water for irrigation near Fallon. The lake began to drop. By the 1960s, Pyramid Lake had fallen over 80 feet. The lower Truckee dried to a trickle; the cui-ui couldn't spawn. The Lahontan cutthroat trout - which needed to reach Lake Tahoe to reproduce - went extinct in the lake. The Paiute watched their world shrivel, fought for water rights in courts that didn't recognize their claims, and eventually won a series of legal and political victories that restored flows. The lake has stabilized, even risen slightly. The cui-ui survives, barely.

The Recovery

The Pyramid Lake Fisheries program has worked for decades to save what remains. Cui-ui are bred in hatcheries, released to supplement wild populations, monitored obsessively. Lahontan cutthroat trout were reintroduced from relict populations in isolated Nevada streams; they can now be caught again, though they no longer migrate to Tahoe. Water rights agreements guarantee minimum flows - not enough to restore the lake to historic levels, but enough to keep it from dying. The Paiute operate the lake as a tribal resource, managing fishing permits, patrolling shores, protecting what they've fought so hard to save. The pyramids still rise from waters that might have vanished entirely.

Visiting Pyramid Lake

Pyramid Lake is located on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation, 35 miles northeast of Reno. Visitors must purchase permits from the tribe for day use, camping, or fishing; permits are available online and at the tribal store. The lake is known for trophy-size Lahontan cutthroat trout fishing, particularly in winter. The pyramids are best viewed from the west shore; the Stone Mother (another tufa formation) sits on the southeast shore. Swimming is permitted but the alkaline water is harsh on skin. Facilities are limited; bring water and supplies. Respect tribal land - this is someone's home and sacred place. Reno has all services. The lake is most atmospheric at dawn and dusk, when the pyramids catch the light.

From the Air

Located at 39.95°N, 119.55°W in Washoe County, Nevada. From altitude, Pyramid Lake is startlingly blue in desert surroundings - a long narrow body of water extending northeast from Sutcliffe. The pyramids are visible as white shapes rising from the water on the lake's east side. The Truckee River enters at the south end. The surrounding terrain is Great Basin desert - brown, dry, empty except for this unexpected water. Reno is visible 35 miles to the southwest. The Paiute reservation surrounds the lake, largely undeveloped. The tufa formations mark ancient lake levels, visible as terraces on surrounding hills. This is an ice-age remnant, still blue, still shrinking, still fought over.

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