Homeless Encampments: A Tale of Two Riverfronts Along The Truckee River

For years, dozens of illegal and criminal homeless camps have been allowed to line both the Reno and Sparks sides of the Truckee River. On March 26 of this year, time finally ran out on their ability to legally remain there. On that date, the Washoe County passed a public camping ban.

The ordinance made it a misdemeanor to sleep in a car or tent, or park an RV on county owned property. Those who violate the ordinance will only be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor if they deny services. Other provisions in the ordinance prohibit obstructing sidewalks, roads, and other rights of way, and using any outdoor fires or portable open flame devices “in an unsafe manner.”

The ordinance further prohibits camping within 1000 feet of the Truckee River in order to preserve the cleanliness of the river and prevent polluting the county’s main water source.

With its passage, Reno and Sparks police have no excuses for not removing the homeless riverfront camps, featuring: drug use/sales and meth manufacturing; sex-trafficking; violent attacks on each other and innocent bystanders; weapons; storing and selling stolen property; and, dumping sewage, garbage, toxic waste, used needles, stolen shopping carts, and furniture into the river, our primary source of drinking water.

The county’s new ordinance was great news, or so county residents thought. Anyone who thought this new ordinance would solve the problem with homeless camps on the Truckee was only half right.

In the months since this new law went into effect, the Truckee riverfront is clean and crime-free, if you live on the Sparks side. The Sparks PD, supported by their city council, has done an amazing job of keeping campers off their side of the river and maintaining it by patrolling the area daily.

The Reno side of the river, however, is an entirely different story. It’s still full of homeless camps, crime, and garbage.

Homeless campers we spoke to explained this stark contrast, one who has been homeless for 10 years in this Truckee river area

“Sparks cops,” he said, “check their side of the river every day, and anyone trying to camp is immediately removed.” The “king of the river” continued, “Reno PD hardly ever drives around over here. When they do, they just stay in their cars sitting on their asses, and yell out the window for us to leave. We pretend like we’re moving our camps but we don’t. They soon go away and nothing happens.”

The best way to observe firsthand this humiliating contrast is to do go down to the Truckee between the Greg and Glendale areas. First, walk the clean and safe riverfront path on the Sparks side. Then, cross over and walk the overgrown, trash-strewn, and multiple homeless camps on the Reno side (if you dare).

Other ordinances prohibiting permanent camping on the Truckee River have existed for years, but have been largely ignored by law enforcement. The comprehensive damage this negligence has done to our drinking water source and the environment is severe, and county residents need to be aware of it.

Many of us know people who regularly fish the Truckee in the Reno area. The “catching” is great, but do you know anyone who would feel safe eating the fish? Nor do any local restaurants offer “Fresh Truckee River Trout.”

A Reno foundation had some Truckee water tested a few years ago, drawn from areas directly downstream from homeless camps. The testing lab apologized for the fact that they couldn’t fully measure how contaminated the water samples were because their machines could not record that high. They added that the water was definitely “unsafe for human contact.”

A few years ago, the Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) gave several shocking public presentations. The topic was the negative impact homeless river camps have on TMWA’s ability to provide Washoe County with clean, safe drinking water. The talk and media presentation described how homeless campers have been filmed swimming naked in the water treatment ponds at night and dumping in bags of human feces.

Within Nevada law, there is an oath that all state law enforcement officers swear to faithfully perform their duties by supporting and defending the government and ordinances of the State of Nevada.

The new Washoe County ordinance banning riverfront camping is NOT a proposed guideline. It is NOT a suggestion for local police chiefs and elected officials to consider enforcing. It is a law that demands the removal of ALL illegal riverfront camps.

Moreover, it is a law that protects the safety and health of over 500,000 residents, yet it is a law not fully enforced by the Reno police chief. Therefore, she is in violation of her oath of office. If the Reno City Council is preventing the chief from fully enforcing this law, then they too are breaking their oath of office.

The need to resolve this issue is urgent and the answer is simple. The Reno City Council and their Chief of Police need to either immediately start fulfilling their sworn duties and fully enforce this law, or they must resign.