LAHONTAN VALLEY WETLAND SYSTEM (NEVADA)

An extensive wetland system in northwestern Nevada in Churchill County near the City of Fallon encompassing the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area and the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, as well as the Carson Lake and Carson Pasture, which serves as a key migration and wintering area for up to 1 million waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors. Each spring and fall, it hosts a significant percentage of the Pacific Flyway's migratory birds. The Lahontan Valley Wetland System was named to the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network in 1988, and it has been nominated for inclusion under the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance, attesting to the continental significance of this invaluable resource. By one estimate, in the early 1900s the Lahontan Valley Wetland System alone contained about 85,000 acres (34,400 ha) of wetlands visited by millions of waterfowl and shorebirds using the eastern edge of the Pacific Flyway during migration. With the advent of the Newlands Project, fresh water that traditionally charged the wetlands was replaced by a greatly diminished supply of agricultural drain water. Overall, wetland acreage in the Lahontan Valley declined by 85 percent. Because it is one of only three large interior basin wetland systems along the west coast, deterioration of Lahontan Valley wetlands has already markedly reduced the carrying capacity of the Pacific Flyway. In 1990, Congress passed Public Law 101-618 (the Negotiated Settlement) authorizing the purchase and transfer of enough water rights to maintain a total of 25,000 acres of primary wetlands in the Lahontan Valley. The U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) estimates this will require up to 125,000 acre-feet of water annually. Also see Newlands Project (Nevada) and Public Law 101-618 (Nevada).