Mineral County has had some big wind storms in the last few weeks, wreaking havoc on Northern Nevada’s infrastructure. Lake Tahoe broke a record of getting the most snow within a 24-hour period (it dumped more than four feet) causing power outages and hazardous driving conditions.
Unfortunately, the recent storms also took out the newly installed freshwater storage tanks, when 120 mph wind gusts lifted its foundation blocks and broke off the cables holding the subsurface reservoirs down (before the tanks were filled).
“The damage happened on both of the tanks, and we will be having a meeting in the next week or so to figure out how bad it is and what to do with them,” says Mineral County Interim Utilities Director Tom Carrigan.
The two new tanks hold about three million gallons of water combined and were installed in September of 2022. When up and running, the new freshwater tanks will provide water to Hawthorne’s 2,700 residents and water intermittently to the army depot.
