The Walker Basin Conservancy has acquired and will permanently protect 1,200 acre-feet of decreed storage water from Poore Lake, California in the headwaters of the Walker River watershed. This transaction marks the first water acquisition for environmental benefit of the Walker River and Walker Lake historically diverted in California.
The Conservancy worked with David Park and Park Ranch to acquire the storage water which has been used in Antelope Valley. Adaptive management will keep land in Antelope Valley in agricultural production and increase the flows of the West Walker River in California and on to Walker Lake.
This water right is stored in Poore Lake, a reservoir in Mono County that feeds Poore Creek and the Pickel Meadow Wildlife Area before joining the West Walker River. Poore Creek and the downstream habitats it supports have substantial conservation value and will benefit from enhanced creek flows and riparian health.
With this transaction, the Walker Basin Conservancy has acquired 59% of the estimated 50,000 acre feet of water needed to restore Walker Lake. All prior transactions have taken place in Nevada. While about 75% of land area of the Walker River Basin falls in Nevada, nearly all water present in the watershed arrives as snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Over the past decade, the Conservancy has worked with Mono County to identify local priorities for water transactions to benefit Walker Lake, and this transaction stems directly from the public input gathered in that process.
Funding for this transaction was made available by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through the Walker Basin Restoration Program (WBRP). The WBRP was established by Congress in 2009 to restore and maintain Walker Lake while protecting agricultural, environmental, and recreational interests throughout the Walker Basin.
This transaction is a milestone in the Conservancy’s mission and offers unique conservation opportunities for the Walker Basin. The health of our watershed begins in the headwaters, and the Walker Basin Conservancy looks forward to protecting water and ecosystems that depend on it throughout the entire Walker Basin.
