Mineral County residents were alarmed to see the rate at which Walker Lake is receding due to the drought and high summer temperatures, but it appears that residents in Lyon County are also feeling the loss and gearing up for an El Nino winter.
Calling a joint emergency meeting on Friday, the Lyon County Board of Commissioners and Yerington City Council met to consider approval of a resolution for a declaration of emergency or disaster to reduce or mitigate the potential flood effects of Walker River.
With little water reaching the lake, the dry riverbeds are in need of a clean out to lessen not only the change of flooding, but also so that it can hold more water capacity.
The riverbed, Walker River watermaster Jim Shaw told the Mason Valley Times, has silt and sediment build up since the flooding of 1997.
The resolution stated that the city and county board members had “found that a state of emergency and/or disaster does exist due to conditions arising from years of prolonged drought, silt and sediment build up in the Walker River and large portions of the river bed are dry.”
It is unsure of how this will affect the Walker River as it travels beyond the Lyon County line into Schurz and onto its final destination of Walker Lake. The river bed in that area is too full of silt and underbrush from many years of drought conditions.
Once passed, the resolution will make its way to that of Governor Brian Sandoval where he will make a declaration regarding if a state of emergency within the Walker River beds in Lyon County truly exists.
