Meeting to be held February 11 in Schurz

For Immediate Release: February 4, 2009

Boyle will use an animated PowerPoint presentation to discuss the work of a number of scientists who have contributed to the development of the model, which encompasses a large portion of the Walker Basin. “This model will help us understand the hydrologic system better,” said Boyle, “and help those on the acquisition team evaluate the effectiveness of proposed acquisitions of water rights from willing sellers to increase water delivery to Walker Lake.”

According to Boyle, the team gathered all the hydrologic information they could find, including observed data and other information from previous studies, for Mason and Smith Valleys and the headwater areas that contribute to Walker Lake. “We had to understand all the details of the watershed such as where the water is and how it moves around in space and time. Once we understood that, we built a model to represent that understanding,” said Boyle.

“This model is fairly unique because it includes both a complex ground water model and a surface water model that work together to simulate all the hydrologic processes as well as the water rights in Mason and Smith Valleys,” said Boyle. The model also includes aspects of climate and evaporation from different water sources. “The Walker Basin is no longer a natural system, it is heavily modified. We needed to simulate all of those conditions to get the actual system behavior correct.”

Boyle’s presentation represents the work of Project F: Water Flow Model. Month-to-month research updates on this project began in May 2007 and are available at http://www.nevada.edu/walker/research/project02.html.

The Stakeholders Group includes community leaders from throughout the Walker Basin; representatives from the Walker River Paiute Tribe; organizations and government agencies with an interest in the Walker Basin; and hunting and fishing interests. Meetings are always held in Walker Basin communities and are open to the public. A list of Stakeholders can be found at http://www.nevada.edu/walker/meet/index.html.

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The Walker Basin Project is a comprehensive, research-guided project to sustain the Basin's economy, ecosystem and lake. Walker Lake is one of only three desert terminal lakes in North America with a fresh water fishery. This federally funded project involves collaborative environmental and economic research conducted by researchers with the Desert Research Institute and the University of Nevada, Reno. It also involves the acquisition of water and water rights from willing sellers under the coordination of the Nevada System of Higher Education. The research is exploring the best means by which to get additional water to the lake while maintaining the Basin's economy and ecosystem.