State, farmers say Walker Lake suit desperate act

Critics of the petition, filed Monday by Mineral County and the Walker Lake Working Group, include David Fulstone, a Mason Valley rancher and Lyon County commissioner.

Fulstone says the move will fail because Walker River water rights were granted by a federal court and state law governing those water rights is reasonable.

Mineral County and the working group asked the states highest court to force the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to reconsider water rights issued decades ago on the Walker River and reverse the lakes precipitous drop.

In the past 100 years, the desert lake has fallen 130 feet due to upstream diversions for agriculture and droughts.

In 1994, the lake became so saline it nearly lost its fishery. The lake supports thousands of birds that feed on the fish.

Located near Hawthorne, about 120 miles southeast of here, the lake is a popular boating, camping and fishing spot.

"I think (the lawsuit) is so far fetched, I'm not sure the Supreme Court will even hear it," Fulstone said. "It would be too drastic to some of the best state water law ever put into practice. This is just a last act of desperation."

Michael Axline, litigation director for the Western Environmental Law Center, agreed the lawsuit is a desperate act. But he said the law center will still try to help Mineral County and the Walker Lake Working Group in court.

"Without somebody intervening, the lake is going to die," he said.

Pete Morros, the director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, agrees the state has an obligation to save Walker Lake. Last year, he formed a team of department employees to explore ways to get more water to the lake.

Morros said hed like to see the state and federal government come up with at least $10 million to reconstruct the lower river channel, allowing more water to reach the lake.

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