Water Quality and Environmental Health

Walker Lake is one of the few perennial, natural terminal lakes in the Great Basin. The ecosystems and recreational uses of Walker Lake and other terminal lakes in the Great Basin have become at-risk due to consumptive water use.

The Colorado River is one of the longest rivers in the Western United States. It begins in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and flows southwestward until it reaches Mexico where it becomes a small stream or dry riverbed. The Colorado River forms the border between southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. In Nevada, Hoover Dam and Davis Dam control the flow of the river and create two...

The Carson River is an important water resource for residents, agriculture, and wildlife. At the headwaters, precipitation assnow and rain can produce runoff that is unregulated until it reaches Lahontan reservoir. Water flowing in the mainstem may be diverted in Carson Valley for agriculture and for municipal water uses. At Lahontan Reservoir, water imported from the Truckee River Basin is used...

Great Basin National Park (GRBA), in White Pine County, Nev., has six small subalpine lakes. These lakes are a priority resource for park managers due to their pristine condition and high visitation. The only trout species native to these lakes is the Bonneville cutthroat trout (BCT). In the late 1990s, GRBA began a BCT reintroduction program. The success of this program was one of the major...

The Black Mountain Industrial (BMI) complex, in Henderson, Nevada, has been the site of industrial chemical production since 1942. Perchlorate contaminants, from activities at BMI, have moved through the groundwater system and have been discovered in the Las Vegas Wash, prompting water resource investigations and groundwater treatment by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP). The...

The ecosystems of Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) are critical habitat for migratory birds. Increased irrigation efficiencies have reduced the amount of fresh water delivered to the wetlands, leading Congress to include provisions in the 1990 Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act to assist with wetland restoration and maintenance. The Secretary of the Interior has...

The USGS Nevada Water Science Center, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, is sampling and analyzing water from Grapevine, Kiup, and Rainbow Springs to determine the source of water to these springs. These Springs, located in the Spring Mountains in southern Nevada, provide habitat for endangered spring snail species including the southeast Nevada Pyrg (Pyrgulopsis turbatrix) and the...

Supplementary water supplies are needed for a rapidly growing population in southern Nevada. Ground-water resources from basin-fill and consolidated rock aquifers in southern Spring and Snake valleys in eastern Nevada have been identified as a potential water-supply source. These aquifers provide water to springs, streams, wetlands, limestone caves, and other biologically sensitive areas on...

Over the past 15 years, Douglas County, Nev., has removed production wells in northern Carson Valley from use due to relatively high arsenic concentrations. To maintain the supply of water to the public, the town of Minden has been providing water to Douglas County and Carson City. Due to the projected increases in municipal demand, water resource managers are concerned that increasing pumping...

The USGS Nevada Water Science Center is collaborating with the Bureau of Land Management and PolyAnalyltik Laboratory in Ontario, Canada to evaluate the potential migration of butyl acrylate vinyl acetate (dust palliative) in soil and storm runoff from areas of application in southern Nevada. There is concern regarding the exposure of the desert tortoise and other wildlife to palliative chemicals...

Clear Creek is a small alpine stream that begins near Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada. The creek flows roughly parallel to U.S. Highway 50 and discharges to the Carson River near Carson City, Nevada. The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) is concerned about how historical and ongoing development in the Clear Creek drainage basin has/is affecting Clear Creek and its sediment-transport...

The Lake Tahoe Interagency Monitoring Program (LTIMP) is an essential part of integrated science in the Lake Tahoe Basin and has provided long-term, consistent, reliable, and accessible tributary monitoring data for decades.