Marlette Lake Water System

The Marlette Lake Water System was created to provide water for the silver mining boom in Virginia City, Nevada. These structures are now listed as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The listed area included two contributing buildings and 12 contributing structures on 135.4 acres (54.8 ha). It has also been known historically as the Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company Water System.[1][2]

Marlette Lake Water System
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Marlette Lake above Lake Tahoe.
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Location	Roughly, from Marlette Lake to Virginia City, Nevada
Nearest city	Virginia City, Nevada
Area	135.4 acres (54.8 ha)
Built	1873
Engineer	Hermann Schussler, civil engineer
NRHP reference No.	92001162[1]
Added to NRHP	September 16, 1992

The mines required large amounts of water and timber to supply the houses and mines in Virginia City and Gold Hill. To feed these mines, the dam at Carson Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company's Marlette Lake was increased, and Hobart Reservoir was created, and a number of flumes and pipelines were built to transport water down to Virginia City. This included a 3,994-foot-long tunnel through the watershed basin divide, and an ingenious inverted siphon pipe to get water through Washoe Valley. The Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company Marlette flume location is now a trail for mountain biking and hiking.

The collection portion of the water system is now located inside Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park.