The onslaught of atmospheric river storms that continue to cross over Mineral County is good news for Walker Lake as Mother Nature aids in its restoration. Since the water flows into the lake from several sources, a few residents have been asking if the water is making it all the way into Walker Lake, and fortunately it has. Local nonprofit the Walker Lake Working Group confirmed that as of Sunday, March 18, water was flowing in at over 1200cfs and widening the riverbed.
“Every little bit helps,” says Walker Lake Working Group President Glenn Bunch. He checks the river flows two or three times a day and has recently start to see it pay off for Walker Lake.
“With the snow being so deep, it’s melting and running and causing the water flows to be up,” Bunch says. He says that part of the water coming from the north is being diverted into the fields for agriculture to help prevent flooding, and this “free water” doesn’t go against the farmers’ water allocation.
“With the water coming down, the lake has come up almost a foot in the past 10 days. There’s a lot of water going into that big pond,” Bunch says. “It’s moving at a thousand CFS or so; the reservoir is holding the majority of the water and we’re fortunate that it’s not hot.”
Glenn Bunch moved to Mineral County in 1952 and has been working with the Walker Lake Working Group since 1991. It works together with the Walker Basin Conservancy, but on the public trust side of it. The Working Group feels that the State of Nevada did not protect the lake for the public when it overallocated the water rights, and it is currently focused on restoring the reservoir to make it a viable economic resource and environmental sanctuary for Mineral County. Farmers in the Walker Basin are reaching the point of selling their water rights to the Conservancy rather than continuing to divert the water for their crops, but a lot of natural precipitation helps.
“The water is flowing and it’s looking good,” Bunch adds.
