2025 Tour of the Marlette Water System

ATTENDEE INFORMATION

Please refer to THIS PAGE post-purchase for information that you will need regarding this event. 

Marlette Lake Water System Tour Sponsorship Opportunities

The Marlette Lake Water System is a historic water system originally constructed in the mid-1870's to provide water to Virginia City.  It was an engineering marvel, using gravity to move water up and out of the Tahoe Basin, down the Sierra and into the Virginia Range to Virginia City.  It still provides raw water to Carson City and Storey County, providing water through an inverted siphon that doesn't need power.

Discussion and presentations throughout the tour with
Jason Wierzbicki, Public Works Director, Storey County and
Ted Jost & Blake Gudmundson, Marlette Lake Water System

The Five-Mile Reservoir was a crucial component of the historic Marlette Lake Water System that supplied water to Virginia City, Nevada, especially during the silver mining boom. This reservoir, completed around 1886, served as an intermediate storage point for water delivered from the Sierra Nevada mountains via a pipeline originating from the Hobart Reservoir and pipe inlet at "The Tanks," before a final flume carried the water to Virginia City and Gold Hill.

Water Treatment System - The availability of good quality water is vital to the sustainable growth of Storey County. The Water and Sewer Services Division is committed to protecting the public health, safety, and welfare of residents, businesses, and visitors by providing high-quality drinking water and waste water treatment, as well as providing for future economic growth through progressive planning, the efficient use of technology, promoting education about water conservation and quality, and monitoring public health and the safety of the environment.  Storey County is proud to be voted “best tasting water in Nevada” for 2003, 2007, 2019, and 2024 by the National Rural Water Association.

Courthouse Slammer & County Museum – Check in, Marlette Water System presentation and museum tour. 

 Comstock Gold Mill - As the last fully operational stamp mill in the state, the mill at Comstock Gold Mill first operated in Marietta Ghost Town, near Hawthorne. It was built in 1864, the same year Nevada became a state, and built by Joshua Hendy in San Francisco. The mill is a two stamp gold mill, which was used to process gold and silver rich ore by stamping it (or breaking it down) to extract the precious materials. Interestingly enough, though the mill originally came from the town of Marietta, it did in fact process Comstock silver and gold. Funny how things have a way of coming full circle, isn’t it? While Virginia City was home to the largest silver strike in United States history and home to a mind-melting 236 mills operating round the clock, the Comstock Gold Mill is one of only three that remain and connected to Virginia City-area history. Best yet, it is the only that still functions.