Walker Lake backers go to court

HAWTHORNE - A Yerington man trying to thwart efforts to find more water for Walker Lake says saving the lake would dry up Mason and Smith valleys.

Not everyone agrees with that stance, including a Mineral County group that filed a petition Monday in the Nevada Supreme Court to force the state to act to prevent any further loss of water to the lake.

Walker Lake and its upstream habitat is the epicenter of an issue that seeks to balance Mineral County's tourism needs with those of the farming communities of Mason, Smith Valley and Yerington to the north.

The Walker River, the largest source of water for the lake, provides water annually to farmers and landowners with wells.

"I think [the filing] is a desperation move," said David Haight, the Yerington landowner and retired engineer.

According to Haight, only half of the water slated to go into the lake from the river would make it - "and that's being optimistic," he said. The rest of the water would be lost to evaporation and percolation as it made its way south.

Not only would the amount of water be too little, it would not hit the lake in a narrow enough frame of time to make a dent in the salinity. Even if enough water were available to be dumped in all at once, the destruction to the upstream habitat would be devastating, according to Haight.

"Mason Valley would turn into a dust bowl. Domestic wells would go dry. They get recharged from the river. And the acquifer would get bypassed. That's the issue that's never been addressed," he said.

Meanwhile, Walker Lake proponents said efforts by the federal government to save the lake are going too slowly.

"We waited almost a year to see what the state and federal level was going to come up with. It will be two years before any proposals come out. Meanwhile, the lake will drop four more feet this season. That means we've got three years left before the fish are gone. So, time is a factor," said Lou Thompson of the Walker Lake Working Group.

Walker Lake is home to the Lahontan cutthroat trout and many species of migratory birds. The area provides major tourist dollars to Hawthorne and surrounding communities.

The situation upstream of Walker Lake cannot be compared to what exists north of Mono Lake in California, Haight said. Farming communities do not exist there to the extent they do in Nevada, he said.

Tom Wright, Mineral County district attorney, said filing the writ will put a needed spotlight on the matter.

"No one that I know in Mineral County wants to deny upstream users. We simply want to survive here. And the water level is critical to our county and regional economy," he said.