Reversing the Loss of a Fishery
The Walker Basin Conservancy works to restore and maintain Walker Lake while protecting agricultural, environmental, and recreational interests throughout the Walker Basin. The Conservancy is passionate about reversing the collapse of Walker Lake, acquiring water rights from willing sellers along the Walker River and protecting this water in-stream for the benefit of Walker Lake. To date, the Conservancy has acquired 58.5% of the water needed to save Walker Lake.
Walker Lake is the terminus of the Walker River in Northwestern Nevada. The lake is the traditional home of the Agai Dicutta or Walker River Paiute Tribe. In Numu, Agai Dicutta means “trout eater”, reflecting the importance of Walker Lake and the Walker River for the tribe.
As recently as the 1980’s, more than half of Mineral County, Nevada’s economy depended on Walker Lake. From boat races to fishing derbies and an annual loon festival, the communities of Schurz, Hawthorne, and Walker Lake depended on the lake for recreation and tourism.
Walker Lake’s volume has decreased by more than 90%, and its surface area by more than half in the last 100 years. Walker Lake used to be half the surface area of Lake Tahoe, it is now one-quarter the size. In many years, the lower Walker River runs completely dry before it reaches the lake.
Today, Walker Lake is in a state of total ecological collapse. There are no fish in Walker Lake, and the last loon festival was held in 2009. Unless we divert less water for agricultural use the Walker River, Walker Lake cannot support the abundant economy or ecology it once provided.
For decades, diversions from the Walker River have sustained a strong agricultural economy and community but produced an unintended consequence: dramatically reduced freshwater inflows to Walker Lake and the lower Walker River. The result has been an ecological tragedy more than a century in the making.
During the last quarter of the 19th century, farmers and ranchers established communities in the Walker Basin, part of the ancestral home of the Northern Paiute people. Natural flows from the Walker River were diverted to support hay, pasture and other irrigated crops. More water rights were issued than the average annual flows of the Walker River.
In the 1920s, the newly formed Walker River Irrigation District built a pair of dams on the east and west forks of the Walker River to store winter and early spring runoff for use later in the season when natural flows could not sustain the need of irrigated agriculture. Additionally, in 1935 the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) built Weber Dam on the lower Walker River to capture surplus flows for irrigation on the Walker River Paiute Tribe’s Reservation.
As a result of declining water levels, the salinity of Walker Lake has increased dramatically to the point that the lake can no longer support its native fish and wildlife populations. The Walker Basin Conservancy acquires water from willing sellers to restore and maintain Walker Lake.
People and Walker Lake Have Always Been Linked
indigenous Peoples
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The first people to inhabit the Walker Basin were known as the Agai-Dicutta Numa, which means “trout eaters.” According to the Walker River Paiute Tribe’s website: “[We] the Agai-Dicutta Numu (Trout Eaters People) Band of the Northern Paiute have lived within this area of the great Basin for tens of thousand of years. We lived in extended matrilineal groups within defined geographical areas. Inter-geographical seasonal gatherings occurred when our bands came together for food gatherings and ceremonies.”
The diets of the Agai-Dicutta Numu were comprised of mostly small game that such as: geese, mud hen ducks, wild jack rabbits, prairie dogs, ground hogs, and some larger game that included: deer, antelope, and mountain sheep. The other source of food came from seeds which were: waigrass, taboosi, pine nuts, buck berries, and thorn berries (hu pwi) that were found in the desert land [Walker River Paiute Tribe].
“As a kid, I would kind of lose interest in fishing…I’d rather play on the ice. Coming down here today seeing the lake receding and river just a trickle can be hard. We’re working to save the lake and all of the system so our kids can experience what we experienced. ”
Recreation and Community at Walker Lake
Historic photo credit to Mineral County Archives.
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Settlers began arriving in the Walker Basin in the late 1800s and the town of Hawthorne, Nevada was established in the 1920s as a military hub with a munitions depot. Hawthorne locals enjoyed spending leisurely time at Walker Lake by fishing, swimming, paddling and boating. The Liars Boat Race is a sign of the lighthearted events that Walker Lake hosted; participants were challenged to create a boat out of unconventional materials.
Visitors and locals alike enjoyed fishing in Walker Lake, which was once a thriving habitat for a number of native fish species including the tui chub and Tahoe sucker. In the 1950s, a fishery with stocked Lahontan cutthroat trout was established at Walker Lake. Walker Lake’s fish and invertebrate population was inviting for migrating birds, and until the 21st century Walker Lake served as a Pacific Flyway stopover for the threatened common loon. The Loon Festival started in Hawthorne in the 1950s as a way to band common loons and monitor the migration paths of the birds.
Due to an increase in TDS, the last stocked Lahontan cutthroat trout was fished out of Walker Lake in 2009, and no native species currently survive in the lake. Additionally in 2009, the Loon Festival was canceled due to the lack of common loons stopping at Walker Lake because of limited sustenance.
“There was tons of recreation going on at the lake…we used to have boat races, a 4th of July celebration…the fish derbies used to bring people in from all over the place. As the lake has declined, those things have declined as well. ”
Walker Basin Restoration Program & Walker Basin Conservancy
In 2015, Walker Basin Conservancy was established as a nonprofit to administer the Walker Basin Restoration Program. As of Spring 2022, the Walker Basin Conservancy has acquired approximately 58.5% of the water necessary to restore Walker Lake.
The Conservancy also leads stewardship of over 15,000 acres of land that was primarily used for agricultural purposes. Stewardship activities balance agricultural interests, cultural activities, wildlife habitat, and recreational use, while providing for landscape stabilization.
Restoration Goals For Walker Lake
Walker Basin Conservancy’s restoration goal is to increase natural flows in the Walker River to restore and maintain Walker Lake. 50,000 Acre Feet (AF) of reliable water to the lake will reduce long-term Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) averages to between 10,000 mg/L and 12,000 mg/L.
This is the range where indicator species will once again be abundant in Walker Lake. As part of understanding the overall condition of Walker Lake, it is important to identify key categories of “indicator species.” As salinity levels of the lake fluctuate with rising or falling lake elevation, the health of indicator species can be used to determine the overall condition of the lake ecosystem.