Environmentalists: Dam project would harm threatened trout

Rose Strickland of the Sierra Club's Toiyabe Chapter said the Bureau of Indian Affairs should explore options to providing water for a small group of farmers on the Walker River Indian Reservation.

Replacing the dam with a less expensive groundwater irrigation system or rebuilding it off the river would allow the trout to once again migrate upriver from Walker Lake to spawn, Strickland said.

"(The alternatives) may be very easy. They may be very hard," she said. "But that's the whole idea of the process - one takes a look at the alternatives."

The trout landed on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's threatened species list in 1975. The agency wants to restore wild Lahontan cutthroat trout to Walker Lake.

Despite environmentalists' concerns, the BIA plans to rebuild Weber Dam this summer. The dam is located 16 miles upstream from Walker Lake and 100 miles southeast of Reno.

BIA officials said damage already has been done to the lake's native trout and the $10 million project would not affect the fish's survival or recovery.

Environmentalists should have clamored for the options in 1994 when the project's first environmental assessment was issued, they added.

"Why weren't people asking about these things then? Nobody can say they didn't have a shot at this," said BIA engineer Ken Clouser.

Jon McMasters, a member of the Walker River Paiute Tribal Council, said it's unlikely the tribe would ask for a delay to consider options.

The tribe is eager to rebuild the dam now that money is available, he said, adding the 65-year-old dam is at the top of the BIA's high-hazard list.

"I don't know if one or two years is enough time for everybody to get their act together," McMasters said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to enter the debate with an opinion on the project's impact on the trout.

Walker Lake's native Lahontan cutthroat trout population died after the dam's completion in 1934. The lake's only current such trout were raised in a hatchery.

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