Boca Reservoir dam road to be closed to traffic
By Jeff Delong, Reno Gazette-Journal
The road over a dam at a popular Sierra reservoir will be closed next week because of security concerns, blocking access for many Reno-area boaters come summer.
With Boca Reservoir expected to fill to the brim for the first time in years, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is forced to close the road to cars and trucks beginning April 1 and through the summer, bureau spokesman Pete Lucero said.
“We’ve reached that level where it’s a security concern issue,” Lucero said. “When the water gets that high, it’s something we do.”
It’s something the bureau last did, for the first time, in 2006. It wasn’t necessary any of the subsequent four years because dry winters kept water levels at Boca low, Lucero said. A heavy winter year changed things.
Lucero declined to discuss specific security concerns regarding the dam but acknowledged the move is associated with a study of all the bureau’s dams and reservoirs ordered after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“It’s not something we can say,” Lucero said. “We just can’t disclose what the serious issue is. That would be a breach on our part.”