Winter has once again piled up the snow in the Sierra, Lahontan Reservoir is filling and Fallon farmers can look forward to a growing season with an assured supply of water.

Spring is synonymous with the irrigation of alfalfa, corn and other crops in the Lahontan Valley, and it truly does bring a season of renewal. Green waves of hay will create a pastoral setting around Fallon in the coming weeks.

Flood irrigation is a boon to wildlife and is one of the reasons the Fallon area is so rich in wetlands and waterfowl species. The irony is that the ever-increasing regulatory burden placed on the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, which has been forced to account for every drop of water delivered to farm headgates, has reduced much of the water that used to drain off farm fields and nourish area wetlands.

The Truckee Carson Irrigation District, which supplies the water for Fallon area farms under contract with the Bureau of Reclamation, has greatly improved the efficiency of water deliveries every year for the past half dozen or so. Less water is lost to seepage, evaporation and spills. Considering the facilities created with authorization of the Newlands Project - the canals and other structures used to transport water through the 300 miles of canals and laterals - are more than 100 years old, it's a challenge to continue to increase efficiency.

It could also be argued water used for irrigation in the Lahontan Valley is never "lost" or wasted. The seepage from canals recharges the aquifer that many homes with shallow wells in the valley depend on for their primary water supply. Wildlife and the flora and fauna have benefited greatly from the practice of flood irrigation.

Water is a precious bounty. One doesn't have to go far outside of Fallon to see what the paltry four inches of annual precipitation in the Carson Desert will grow. But right here, in the oasis of Nevada, it's a lush environment that is renewed every irrigation season.