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Displaced by Newlands Project, Nevada

Displaced by Newlands Project, Nevada

1867 photograph of Pyramid Lake. The cui-ui fish and Lahontan Cutthroat Trout are integral to the culture and lifeways of the Pyramid Lake Paiute. The Newlands Project diverted irrigation water from the Truckee River to the Carson Valley, which led to low water levels in Pyramid Lake and to nearby Winnemucca Lake drying up completely. The Pyramid Lake Lahontan Cutthroat Trout went extinct by the 1940s, and many local Paiute fisherman had to leave their land and traditional occupation to find work elsewhere. In 2005, Pyramid Lake Lahontan Cutthroat Trout were discovered in a Utah stream and returned to the lake, where population numbers have recovered.

About this community

Dam
Lahontan Dam, Derby Diversion Dam, Newlands Project
River
Truckee River
Established
2000 BCE
Inundated
1905