The Walker Basin Conservancy Program Water Tracker

Restoration efforts at Walker Lake began in 2002 with the Desert Terminal Lakes Restoration Fund. To restore Walker Lake, the Walker Basin Conservancy works with willing sellers in the basin to acquire water rights on the Walker River and convey this water to Walker Lake. The water acquired under the Program is referred to as Program Water and is tracked from the locations where water was acquired through the system to Walker Lake. Program Water is tracked through two accounting systems. Program Water is tracked from the historic points of diversion through the Walker River at the Wabuska streamgage (Wabuska Gage) using the Walker River Accounting Tool (WRAT). The WRAT is managed by the Walker River Irrigation District and daily snapshots of current flow conditions are available here. Program Water delivered to the Wabuska Gage is then publicly tracked through the lower Walker River to Walker Lake using the Walker Basin Conservancy Program Water Tracker (Water Tracker).

The Water Tracker calculates Program Water flows using protocols that were jointly developed by the Walker River Paiute Tribe, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with technical support from USGS in 2014. The Water Tracker was developed to ensure that Program Water would flow through the Walker River Paiute Reservation on the lower reach of the Walker River to Walker Lake without effect to the Tribe’s existing water rights. The Water Tracker reports daily and season totals of Program Water along the lower Walker River and into Walker Lake.

Data from the Water Tracker is available for all interested parties through these links:

Current Season Summary Daily Accounting Calculations Past Season Summary