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E. HEALTH OF RIVER CHANNEL AND LAKE WATER WITH INCREASED FLOWS
This project will develop a set of recommendations to minimize further sediment and salt loading to Walker Lake and degradation to the lower Walker River under increased water flows. These recommendations will be made available to land and water managers to assess potential impacts resulting from variations in flow, water quality and channel geometry on the transport of sediments and on the flow capacity of the Walker River.
Researchers:
From DRI: Ken Adams (PI), Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences; Rosemary Carroll (Co-I) Division of Hydrologic Sciences (DHS); Li Chen (Co-I), DHS
From
UNR: Keith Dennett (PI), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE); Eric Marchand (Co-PI), CEE; Kyle House (Co-I), Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, and Joanna Redwine (graduate student)
Updates:
2007: May | June | July | August | September | October | November| December
Current Year: 2008
May 2007:
No noteworthy progress for public information purposes was made during the reporting period.
DRI report: We are await permission from the Walker River Paiute Tribe to begin fieldwork on tribal land. It is anticipated the request will be considered at the July Tribal Council meeting.
UNR report: No noteworthy progress for public information purposes was made during the reporting period.
July 2007:
During the month of July, a team of civil engineering students at UNR began gathering land surveying data along the east and west forks of the Walker River within Nevada, but outside reservation boundaries. The limited interaction that has occurred with a few local landowners along the river has been very positive. The collection of land surveying data is expected to continue through August and possibly into September. Collection of samples for water quality analyses along the river has begun as well. The samples are currently being analyzed. Collection of monthly samples for water quality analyses will continue for the duration of the research project.
August 2007:
Project members have collected, scanned, and rectified aerial photographs of the lower Walker River from 1938, 1954, 1957, 1974 and 2006, allowing a detailed view of how the river has responded to lake-level lowering of 26 m (85 feet) over the last 68 years. Team members also report that surveying to gather river cross section data has been progressing well. Crews are attempting to notify landowners whenever possible.
Highlight of the month
The surface elevation of Walker Lake has fallen from about 1226 m (4022 ft) in 1938 to about 1200 m (3937 ft) in 2006. During this same time period, the Walker River has extended its length by about 10 km (6 miles).
Fieldwork this month included surveying activities along the lower river where we established temporary benchmarks and surveyed multiple cross-sections that will be used in our sediment transport model. Significant erosion, both vertical and horizontal, has continued along the lower river since 2005 indicating that this river system is still well out of equilibrium.
We have also continued to analyze historic aerial photography to quantify how the river has responded to lowered base level and varying flow.
Field observations and analysis of aerial imagery indicate that the lower river from Schurz downstream to Walker Lake has continued to incise its bed in places and migrate laterally. These observations suggest that the river is out of equilibrium and continues to respond to the lowering of Walker Lake.
Field surveying to gather river cross section data has been progressing well. Nothing of noteworthy significance for the purposes of public information occurred during this reporting period.
October 2007:
Field surveying to gather river cross section data and water and sediment samples is continuing. Nothing of noteworthy significance for public information purposes occurred since the last report.
November 2007:
A sediment transport model for the lower Walker River has been constructed that will be used to study long term erosion. Field surveying to gather river cross section data and water and sediment samples is continuing, as is collection and analysis of water and sediment samples.
Kazuma Honda, an undergraduate engineering student at UNR, collecting water samples from the Walker River
December 2007:
Air photo mapping of the lower Walker River corridor is ongoing and will be incorporated into the GIS database. The information gleaned form this exercise is critical for understanding how erosion has proceeded as lake level receded through time.
Field surveying to gather river cross section data and water and sediment samples is continuing, but at a slower pace because of weather conditions and scheduling of student work hours.