Walker Basin Conservancy establishes $14.9M trust to help protect Walker Lake

The Walker Basin Conservancy recently announced that its has established a trust in the amount of $14.9 million to protect the instream water rights to the Walker Basin in perpetuity.

The funds will support its partners at the Walker River Irrigation District, US Board of Water Commissioners, and local ditch companies in paying assessments for water rights acquired for environmental benefit and cover formerly irrigated acres to support administration and delivery of water in the Walker River system.

The irrigation district assesses water rights holders and establishes a fee that is paid on an annual basis, much like a property tax. The Conservancy bought some of these water rights to put water back into the streams instead of to the fields, and thus pays the annual fee. The Conservancy pays roughly $486,000 per year for these assessments. The Conservancy has been paying these fees out of pocket thanks to the 100 percent support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The trust means that the Conservancy has secure funding to keep paying these water rights fees without being subject to year-to-year approvals, operational or management changes.

“It sends a clear message that we are here to stay,” says Walker Basin Conservancy Executive Director Peter Stanton.

The establishment of this trust also marks a major landmark in the recovery of Walker Lake. Since its inception, the Walker Basin Conservancy has taken a comprehensive approach to increasing the water flows of Walker River into Walker Lake by ensuring that changes in the irrigation through the Walker Basin Restoration Program are accompanied by consistent support to the Irrigation District and US Board of Water Commissioners.

The Walker Basin Restoration Program was established in 2009 as a federally funded program to help restore and maintain Walker Lake by seeking voluntary water rights sellers, and then the Conservancy was formed in 2014 to implement it.

The Walker Basin watershed starts at the crest of the Sierra Nevada just south of Carson and Walker River flows west towards Bridgeport and Smith Valley and east of Walker Lake. The water travels through Antelope, Smith, and Mason valleys; the major reservoirs in that area include Bridgeport and Topaz. In years past, the section of the Walker River in Mason Valley has run completely dry during irrigation season.

Since its inception, the Conservancy has acquired water rights equal to 53 percent of its goal to retain water. It manages 26,000 acre-feet per year of water rights and facilitated 23 permanent transactions with water rights owners. It has worked with 155 farmers and ranchers to protect in-stream flows, increasing the resilience of agriculture in the region, and restoring a fishery at the lake.

When asked about how Walker Lake seems to be doing now, Stanton replies, “Last year when you walked down to Walker Lake it smelled like the ocean but now when you walk down to the shoreline it smells like a lake, due to the reduction in salinity from increased water flows.”

Stanton says that for the lake to fully recover, the Conservancy will continue to work with farmers and ranchers to make changes in irrigation and instream protections but believes that there also needs to be increased accountability and transparency with how and where the water is moving in the Walker Basin.

The $14.9 million trust to be able to maintain the water rights is a good start, though.

“The establishment of this trust, years in the making, is a demonstration of our long-term commitment to our region and our partners,” Stanton says. “This water year shows that bringing back a fishery is possible. We’ve seen the extinction of fish in other waterways, and this [program] is reversing it.

“[The trust] is a major accomplishment for the Conservancy and ensures our work to restore Walker Lake,” he added, noting that securing the flows of Walker River into the lake will benefit future generations. “I’m excited to see the outpouring of support and enthusiasm not only for the lake but for the Conservancy as well.”

For more information about the Walker Basin Conservancy, visit www.walkerbasin.org.