Water Conservation Program

Overview

In 2017 the Walker Basin Conservancy (WBC) accepted the lead for all Walker Basin Restoration Program (WBRP) activities. The WBRP was established by Public Law 111-85 (2009) for the primary purpose of restoring and maintaining Walker Lake, and to protect agricultural, environmental and habitat interests in the Walker Basin consistent with that primary purpose.

Many decades of reduced freshwater inflows have resulted in declines of the lake level and increases in lake salinity, which today threaten to cause its complete ecological collapse. The health of Walker Lake is critical to recovery of the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout, and the lake has long been an important stopover for common loons and other migratory waterfowl. (See more about the history of Walker Lake).