MCIN file photo
The Walker Lake Basin Conservancy was given a favorable court ruling to protect an additional 1300 acre-feet of water instream annually to help Walker Lake.

Although it has not seemed like Mineral County has received much precipitation this past winter and the shores of Walker Lake appear to be getting bigger. Thanks to a new water acquisition, the volume of water that is currently in the reservoir has already surpassed the amount of water that was in it back in 2021.

Along with feeding water into the lake, this past April the Walker Lake Basin Conservancy was given a favorable court ruling to protect an additional 1300 acre-feet of water (one acre-foot of water equals about 326,000 gallons or covering a football field one foot deep) instream annually to help Walker Lake. This new water insurance totals about 9.88 cfs of flow, a significant increase in the water available for the basin.

This is huge for Mineral County as Walker Lake is a desert reservoir that has a surface area of more than 50 square miles and is on the verge of disappearing. Agricultural diversions placed on the Walker River and its complementary tributaries have dramatically decreased water flow into the lake, increasing its salinity and thus killing most of the wildlife that settled in it. Walker Lake can no longer support any kind of fish or migratory bird habitat. The lack of water in the lake has also diminished tourism and economic returns for Mineral County (the last Walker Lake loon festival was held in 2009).

The Walker Basin Conservancy works to restore Walker Lake as well as protect the agricultural, recreational, and environmental interests that rely on its existence. The Conservancy works with the Walker River Paiute Tribe and spent this year storing water for it in the Weber Reservoir to increase the efficiency of water releases making it into Walker Lake.

The Conservancy is analyzing a dry-year strategy in which it may make more sense to release water in large batches to increase the water volume into the lake. The Conservancy’s 30-person team is also watching the section of river between Weber Reservoir and Walker Lake closely, making sure that the hydrologically connected system is working properly in years where there is no water passing through. Water in this part of the river significantly helps wildlife habitat and its surrounding ecosystem when flowing properly.

“This [recent court ruling] is another positive effort to protect Walker Lake and this process took less than a year from the last attempt,” says Walker Basin Conservancy Executive Director Peter Stanton. He explains that the Conservancy owns more water than is protected instream and must go through a legal filing every time they want to work on improvements. For instance, its last filing on this section was done in 2012, and a consistent water volume did not successfully reach Walker Lake until 2019.

Since its inception, the Walker Basin Conservancy has accumulated access to 29 miles of corridor leading to Walker Lake and re-established plants and riparian life on 5,000 acres of the water’s edge. To learn more about the Walker Basin Conservancy or if you are interested in volunteering or selling your water rights to the organization, visit www.walkerbasin.org