Walker Lake Education Day

Submitted by: Lorna Weaver (Walker Lake Working Group)

Education Day success leads to expanded festival at imperiled Nevada lake

Riding a wave of success from increased visitors in 2009, Walker Lake Education Day organizers are expanding the 2010 event that is designed to showcase the multi-agency/organization efforts to conserve the imperiled lake near Hawthorne, NV.

The nearly 1,000 people who attended Education Day in 2009 shows growing support for sustaining the fresh-water ecosystem that supports recreational fishing and thousands of migratory birds.

Plans for the 2010 event include expanded exhibits to provide one-stop shopping for answers to questions about how to save the fishery at Walker Lake that is on the brink of collapse due to lack of water from upstream diversions. New this year will be a demonstration and free lessons on stand-up paddle-boarding, the fasting growing sport in the world.

The 2010 Education Day will be held May 1 at Sportsman’s Beach, 11 miles north of Hawthorne on Hwy. 95 in west-central Nevada. This free family event will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and feature boating, wildlife viewing, fishing demonstrations, scientific and cultural exhibits, as well as children’s activities. Food will be available for purchase.

Walker Lake Working Group replaced its 15-year tradition of the Walker Lake Loon Festival last year with Education Day because of declining lake levels and the absence of significant numbers of loons that normally visit the lake during their spring migration.

Upstream diversions on the Walker River allow little or no water to reach the lake and dilute the dissolved solids that are left behind and are toxic to native fish that migratory birds rely on for food. However, Lahontan cutthroat trout are still available for fishing.

The Walker Lake Working Group supports continued efforts to find a secure, long-term source of water to sustain the lake’s ecosystem. Without additional water, the lake’s freshwater ecosystem will collapse within the next couple of years.

For information on Walker Lake Education Day call (775) 945-2289 (775) 677-8951 or visit the working group’s Web site at www.walkerlake.org.

April 2, 2010
For Immediate Release
Contacts with the Walker Lake Working Group:
Glenn Bunch, (775) 945-2289
Lorna Weaver, (775) 677-8951

Photo by: Patrick Pharris / PM Advertising & Marketing