Babbitt encourages cooperation in saving Walker Lake

Babbitt met Wednesday with members of the Walker River Basin Advisory Committee in Yerington.

"You're off to a good start," Babbitt told the group during a meeting at the Lyon County Library. "It's not going to be easy.

"The inevitable new balance will require changes," he said. "It would be easy if we could find the bad guys and turn on them, but we can't. There are no bad guys. It's just you."

Walker Lake has dropped 129 feet since the turn of the century because of droughts and upstream diversions for agriculture.

While four wet winters in a row has helped it rebound, its long-term survival is questionable unless users can come to agreement on how to protect its water supply.

Members on the advisory committee represent agriculture, the Walker Lake Working Group, the Walker Lake Paiute Tribe, Mono County, Calif., and Mineral County, Nev.

The group received a $280,000 federal grant to study the Walker River system and find ways to ensure water flow to the lake.

archive