The only significant source of water for Walker Lake is the Walker River. For years, the state of Nevada has over-appropriated the water of the Walker River System for agricultural and other economic interests. Therefore, there is little water left for Walker Lake during most years. The surface of Walker Lake has dropped over 130 feet in 120 years. People were greatly alarmed by the dropping lake level and disintegration of water quality so the Walker Lake Working Group was formed. Walker Lake is a remnant of prehistoric Lake Lahontan, which at its greatest extent is estimated to have covered over 8,000 square miles of northwestern Nevada. Quoting limnologist Dr. Alex Horne of California-Berkeley, Walker Lake is a "rare and endangered species of lake" of which only a "handful exists in all of North America and on earth." The water supply trickling into Walker Lake comes from snowmelt and rainfall draining east off the Sierra Nevada mountains. Flows reaching the Lake from its river have decreased by two-thirds, from 285,000 acre-ft/year to 90,000 acre-ft/year since 1882 because of the combination of over-appropriation, reservoirs and groundwater pumping. The shoreline has receded as much as seven miles since 1882. If Walker Lake levels continue to decline, the Lake's alkalinity will increase to the point where the present fish population can no longer survive. The Nevada Department of Wildlife has declared that if the conditions of the Walker Lake did not change, we would lose Walker Lake as trout fishery. The water crisis came to a dramatic point in the fall of 1994 when the lake level dropped to its lowest point in years. The salinity or Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in Walker Lake had increased dramatically, and jeopardized the lake's entire aquatic ecosystem. Several species of invertebrates disappeared and the Tui Chub did not reproduce. The fishermen complained that the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout were small, deformed, and diseased. These signs indicated that the trouts' food-chain and the lake's ecosystem was in great danger. Fortunately, 1995 was a wet year -- water rose and the TDS level lowered. In May 2000 the Walker Lake Working Group stepped up efforts to avoid this situation and, in conjunction with Mineral County, purchased land with water rights in Mason Valley. For the first time, Walker Lake and Mineral County was able to have a say during Walker River Irrigation District meetings as a member. In June 2000, the Walker Lake Working Group filed a petition for a Writ of Mandate with the Nevada Supreme Court to force the state to protect Walker Lake. The Nevada Supreme Court rejected the petition, saying the issue belonged in a federal court. The Walker Lake Working Group thought that if they could get the Nevada Legislature to set water quality standards on Walker Lake, that would solve a lot of the problem. The TDS level proposed was 12,000 mg of total dissolved solids per liter. This is not ideal, but the lake's ecosystem would survive at that level. However, the legislature turned it down. It is poor public policy to allow a unique desert ecosystem to collapse as a result of human-caused activities. Somehow, we must get water down Walker River to Walker Lake to save the ecosystem. Court trials and lawsuits are costly and not practical. The Walker Lake Working Group is more than willing to discuss differences and solutions with the other Walker River Users. Through negotiations and good will on each side, the Walker Lake water problem can be solved. < Back to Home