Drawdown

Lahontan Reservoir on the Carson River, Nevada, at pretty much maximum drawdown at the end of the irrigation season. The reservoir is about 30% of capacity here. The idea is that it gets refilled next spring by runoff from the Sierra Nevada snowpack. (We hope!) The short bluff in the foreground is a wave-cut bench resulting from the unprecedented water levels two years ago. The inset is a view of the wide, wide beach exposed by the drawdown!