Improving the Walker Basin’s Ecosystem

Under the Desert Terminal Lakes Program (DTLP) the Service has received funding to address ways to improve river function and remove invasive weeds that threaten the natural balance and biological diversity of the river and its flood plain.

The Service initiated a report on the historical and current conditions of the river to help prioritize restoration activities and funding of projects.

Photo courtesy of Mason Valley & Smith Valley Conservation Districts

The report provides a general overview of the watershed followed by a focused description of the river channel and river processes.  It presents important baseline information from which a monitoring program will be developed.

The objectives of the study are to assess the physical and biological environment of the Walker River, characterizing historic and current conditions. The information is being used to identify opportunities that will restore river function and habitat.

For this study, aerial photos of the basin dating back to 1938 were compared to more recent ones to determine how the river channel has changed over the decades. Scientists used aerial imagery to develop a digital map of the channel to understand how floods, drought and diversions have altered the river channel.

Photo courtesy of OBEC, 2007

We will update this site with highlights from the basin report of how the river and basin have changed over the years and how those changes have affected the river’s function.

Click here for the report done by UNR’s Desert Research Institute on the Walker River Basin external link