Everyone knows of putting money away for a rainy day, but what about putting water in the ground for a not-so-rainy day?

For the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, both practices are standard parts of the local water provider’s procedure.

When TMWA took over the service of providing water to northern Nevada in 2001, it continued a century-long practice of producing electricity using the power of the Truckee River, and earlier this month it continued a more recent practice of pumping excess water into underground wells to keep for when the skies are dry.

“This hydroelectric plant (in Verdi) provides a renewable energy source,” TMWA general manager Mark Foree said. “Water from the Truckee River has been diverted to this plant and the water that runs through the plant’s turbine creates power.”

The hydroelectric plants managed by TMWA differ from other hydroelectric plants in that they do not work off a dam built in the middle of the river.

“The river was diverted to provide water for the plant,” TMWA manager Pat Nielson said. Water for the plant, he said, travels through a canal from a point upstream, through the turbines in the plant and back into the river downstream. This means the river is not blocked as part of the process.

Precautionary steps have been taken to limit the effects the plant has on the environment.

“Any water that flows into the plant is returned to the river and we have incorporated fish ladders and other mechanisms to ensure that the plant doesn’t negatively impact the environment,” Nielson said.

Considering the three plants require little maintenance and only take four employees to operate them, the amount of energy produced is impressive.

“This plant produces enough energy to create $3 million in offsetting revenue,” Foree said. “The energy created at this plant is sold to NV Energy.”

In 2006/2007, selling the energy created by the plant helped TMWA offset almost half of its $6 million electricity bill, which decreases the amount the nonprofit water agency charges its customers.

TMWA is also expanding the capacity of the Highland Canal from 55 million gallons per day to 95 gallons per day in an effort to decrease the costs of providing Truckee Meadows residents with clean water. This expansion will save a total of $400,000 a year.

Foree explained: “Using the Highland Canal will decrease costs because this canal relies on gravity instead of an outside source of power to bring the water to the plant.”

The hydroelectric plants have played an important part in Truckee Meadows history. Foree said that the plants have been producing energy for almost a century. Farad was the first plant of this kind created in the area in 1898 and the hydroelectric plant in Verdi was created shortly thereafter in 1911.

Naturally occurring water resources are not only used by TMWA to generate electricity. TMWA stores water in underground aquifers in case of a drought.

“Both surface and groundwater resources can be tapped in the event of a drought,” Foree said. “Every year, around the beginning of November, we recharge the underground aquifer through 32 wells in the area.”

The recharge program takes place in the winter months when water usage is at its lowest.

“During the winter months, customers use one fourth of the amount of water they use doing the peak summer months,” Foree said. “The most water used during the summer was 132 million gallons of water per day, as opposed to the winter, where an average of 30 million gallons of water are used in one day.”

To date, TMWA has stored a total of 6 billion gallons of water.

“We have stored enough water to supply one fourth of our customers with water for an entire year,” Foree said. “We looked at the data of the worst droughts in the past 120 years, and we try to prepare for a drought that would last one year longer than the longest recorded drought, which would be a total of nine years.”

TMWA’s commitment to renewable energy is also present in its administrative offices. Lora Richards leads the “green team” at the water authority, which is responsible for implementing environmentally friendly practices.

“There are green teams at all sorts of different organizations,” Richards said. “Ours is more grassroots, though. It was motivated by employees, not mandated by the organization.”

The green team was first created when Richards was asked by the TMWA board to create a renewable energy project.

“We began by setting up bins so that employees could recycle their glass, plastic and batteries,” Richards said. “Eventually, it evolved so that we began using the workplace as a forum to discuss different ideas about environmentally friendly and sustainable practices.”

Taking part in the project requires little effort on the part of the employees.

“The average staffer maybe spends 10 minutes a week cleaning out their recycling bins,” Richards said. “The project has been very easy to maintain since everything’s now in place.”

In one month, the employees recycled 324 batteries and Richards explained that the renewable energy project has “encouraged people to recycle” and that “it’s been very positive for the employees’ morale.”

“The best part about the project,” Richards said, “is that we all feel like we’re making a difference.”