Sutter started as a substitute dam tender in 1990, filling in for his friend, Jim Miller. Sutter took over the position five years later and has been operating the dam ever since. But his responsibilities are not limited to just the dam. He also collects information about the lake and Truckee River. The data assists the Federal Watermaster’s Office in Reno, which makes decisions about water releases from Lake Tahoe.

Sutter’s day starts around 7 a.m. at the dam. He performs a security check to ensure that nothing is blocking one of the dam’s 17 gates and restricting the flow of water. Next, he travels to the Coast Guard Station in Lake Forest to get the lake level. Then he returns to the river to measure its outflow at a downstream gage. After that, he visits the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather station located behind the Tahoe Marina Lodge. It supplies him with information such as the previous day’s high and low temperatures and the amount of any precipitation or snow. Finally, he calls the Watermaster in Reno for any directions about releases. This all takes about an hour.

In the afternoon, he rechecks the dam and the river gage. Sutter repeats the entire process seven days a week. He is a real estate agent, and he doesn’t mind putting in extra hours as the dam operator. There are advantages to a job on the lake, beside the modest salary.

“I like getting up early, walking down to the pier every morning at the Coast Guard Station, and seeing the seasonal changes and the weather.”

While the basics of his job have remained the same, there have been some changes in recent years. Before 9/11, Sutter could find a friend to fill in for him when he went on vacation, and could give his neighbors tours of the dam. Now the public is no longer allowed to go through the dam unless authorized, and only a Bureau of Reclamation employee can act as a substitute gatekeeper. Sutter also had to obtain a low level, security clearance.

“This is high visibility security site,” Sutter said. “A lot of people do go to Hoover or Shasta or Oroville [dams], of course, but thousands of people also walk by the Tahoe City Dam on weekends.”

The dam itself has also changed, for the better. In 2003 the government poured $300,000 into remodeling the dam, installing new windows, lighting, back-up power supply, and a new roof and coat of paint. This was the first time that the dam, built in 1913, had undergone any major repairs.

The renovations created a safer work environment for Sutter, who in the past had to avoid stepping through one of the holes in the dam’s wooden floor. But the remodel also created more maintenance work. The new windows require constant cleaning, and because the public can now see into the dam (the windows were shuttered before), Sutter has to keep the interior tidy. He estimates he puts in an extra two to four hours per week, cleaning in the summer.

“The dam is now a showcase for the Bureau of Reclamation,” he said.

Contrary to popular opinion, Sutter doesn’t have any decision-making power regarding releases. Anything to do with opening and closing the gates is determined by the Federal Watermaster. This doesn’t stop people from leaving notes on the dam’s door asking him to let more water out or criticizing him for releasing too much water.

While he received some flak, most in jest, for the lake’s late (July 18), full release this summer, Sutter said nothing compares to the winter of 1997. That year, heavy snowfall followed by rain caused a 100-year flood, an event Sutter called “a worst case scenario.” For two days he had to measure the lake level every three to four hours, and all 17 dam gates were wide open.

“That set a new record for discharge.”

Despite the occasional extreme weather event that turns his post into a stressful one, Sutter knows he’s fortunate to be Lake Tahoe’s only dam tender. He knows because his friends, with a hint of envy in their voices, tell him so.

“‘That dam guy’ – I get a lot of that from my neighbors,” said John Sutter.