Walker Lake:
Nevada's International Treasure
Walker Lake is a familiar sight to travelers on
Highway
95 between Reno and Las Vegas. Its blue desert waters start on
the
east slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California, flow through farming
communities
at Bridgeport and Antelope Valley and then through Smith and Mason
Valleys
in Nevada. From Wabuska, the joined East and West Forks flow through
the
Walker River Paiute Reservation and then into Walker Lake, just north
of
Hawthorne, Nevada. The best-kept secret of Walker Lake is that it
is
one of only six freshwater terminal lakes in the world.
Walker Lake is famous for its
Lahontan cutthroat trout fishery. Recently, the original
strain of lake cutthroats, believed
to be extinct, was found surviving in a small creek in northeastern
Nevada.
These trout which grew to over 40 pounds were re-introduced to Walker
Lake
in hopes that they will regain their great size. Less well-known is its
support
of thousands of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds, including biannual
visits
of up to 1400 common loons. Walker Lake recreational uses are the
mainstay
of the economy of small rural Mineral County.
Walker Lake has been seriously impacted by over a century
of upriver agricultural diversions. It has lost over three fourths of
its
volume. The
Lake level has fallen by 140 feet. Salt levels have increased to a
point which now threaten the survival of
the trout fishery and may bring about the collapse of the entire
freshwater
dependent lake ecosystem. Walker Lake has survived droughts and global
climatic
changes since the Pleistocene, but its fragile ecosystem cannot outlive
upriver
diversions accompanied by serious droughts.
Walker Lake has no water rights and the River is overappropriated by
140%. Except for a little water from a few creeks and springs on
the slopes of Mt. Grant, its only freshwater comes from the river
during floods, during high flows when all agricultural rights are
satisfied, or at times when Walker
River flows cannot be totally diverted.
Previous crises over the threat of rising salt levels were
resolved by exceptionally heavy winter snows and freshening spring
floods
down the river. Currently, Nevada and the Eastern Sierra are in the
second
year of a drought, with 2001 precipitation levels lower than in every
year
since weather records have been kept. Salt levels will exceed 13,000
ppm
at the end of the 2002 summer season. The State of Nevada may decide
not
to restock Lahontan cutthroat trout in 2003 if its traditional
acclimatization
program fails and fish mortality rises. The fish will live, but not
reproduce
or increase in size at high salt levels.
When rising salt levels in the Lake become extremely high, all
freshwater
species will die
.
Efforts to secure
freshwater for Walker Lake began two decades ago. After the 1980's
drought, the State was successful in obtaining the rights to some
floodwaters for Walker Lake. State efforts on behalf of Walker Lake
have been limited, since then, to studies,
meetings, an aborted setting of beneficial uses and water quality
standards
for the Lake by the NV Division of Environmental Protection, and
current
interest by Mike Turnipseed, Director of the Dept. of Conservation and
Natural
Resources, in initiating an alternate dispute resolution process on
Walker
River basin water issues.
Senator Harry Reid's
interest in Walker Lake resulted in federal appropriations for Lake and
river basin studies, a report by the Office of Technology Assessment,
and the initiation of a three-pronged environmental impact analysis by
the Bureau of Land Management
of acquiring water for Walker Lake, settling Indian claims on
additional
Walker River water, and recovering Lahontan cutthroat trout in the
basin.
Mineral County voters
approved a tax initiative for legal funds to save Walker Lake and the
Mineral County Commission authorized the Walker Lake Working Group
(WLWG) to represent county
interests in saving Walker Lake. Several lawsuits have been filed,
including
one to intervene in the Walker River Decree court proceedings, one
against
the Irrigation District over the illegal use of herbicides, and ones
challenging
the US EPA over lack of Clean Water Act implementation and Endangered
Species
Act enforcement. The WLWG has purchased ten acre feet of water for
Walker
Lake, but not yet filed with the State Engineer or the US Court to
deliver
it to the Lake. It conducts an annual Loon Tour in April for the public
and
has sponsored the Walker Lake Arts Festival. The Group attends
meetings,
presents testimony, and generally represents the interests of the Lake.
Its
website is www.walkerlake.org.
Other involved parties include the upriver farmers, both individually
and
organized as the Walker River Irrigation District (WRID), the Walker
River
Paiute Tribe at Schurz and the Yerington Indian Colony, the State of
California
(CA Fish & Game), the Federal District Court and its Walker River
Watermaster,
Lyon County and Yerington, the US Army, the US Marines, the Bureau of
Land
Management, the US Forest Service, the US Fish & Wildlife Service,
the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Reclamation, the US Army Corps
of
Engineers and the Department of Justice which represents all of these
varied
federal interests in litigation matters. Other State agencies include
UNR,
DRI, the Attorney General and the State Engineer. Conservation,
wildlife,
and angler groups generally strongly support the acquisition of
freshwater for Walker Lake.
Walker Lake's water
needs have been estimated by NDOW fisheries biologists as a minimum of
135,000 to
140,000 acre feet per year, on the average. This would reduce TDS to
levels
at which the cutthroat trout and other Lake species would be healthy.
Lake
proponents support acquisition of water rights through purchase from
willing
sellers. Funds for water rights acquisition could be provided from the
Land
and Water Conservation Fund, the So. NV Public Lands Management Act,
private
foundation funds, etc. Other ideas for water for the Lake include
promoting
water conservation among farmers and reserving conserved water for the
lake,
leasing water from farmers during drought years, federal acquisition of
water
rights for the Indian tribes and leasing of tribal water for the Lake.
More
extreme ideas include building a de-salinization plant, splitting
Walker
Lake into a freshwater section and a saline lake/playa through building
a
large levee, and buying Columbia River or Canadian water and piping it
to
Walker Lake.
Excellent references on
Walker Lake and the Walker River Basin include: Walker River Atlas, CA
Dept. of Water
Resources, June 1992; PRA's publication; Water for Walker Lake, Office
of
Technology Assessment, August 31, 1993; draft Walker River Basin EIS,
BLM
Carson City Field Office, which will be released for public review in
June
2002.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: BLM
contact is John Singlaub, BLM Field Office Manager at (775) 885-6000.
Contact
for the Walker Lake Working Group Walker
Lake Working Group is President Lou Thompson in Hawthorne, NV,
(775) 945-8243. Nevada Division
of Wildlife contact is Fisheries Biologist, Mike Sevon, at (775)
423-3171
x226, in Fallon, NV. Loon expert is Jim Paruk, Feather River College,
Quincy,
CA, (530) 283-0202 x.268. Kai Anderson of Senator Reid's staff can be
contacted
at (202) 224-3542 in Washington, DC. For more information and to
arrange
a tour of Walker Lake/Walker River basin, contact Rose Strickland,
Sierra
Club, (775) 329-6118; Susan Lynn, Public Resource Associates, (775)
786-9955,
both in Reno, NV.
