Opinion ID: 776160
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Lahontan Valley Wetlands

Text: 18 For at least 4,000 years, the Lahontan Valley wetlands 4 have supported a wide diversity of wildlife. The wetlands provide expansive areas of uniformly shallow wetland habitats with waters of varying salinity. WEIS at 3-58. The wetlands shrink and swell continuously, according to season and over geologic time. Within the span of one season, these wetlands can transform from shallow lakes with clear, fresh water, to shallow, brackish marshes with high salt concentrations. Id. 19 Historically, runoff from the Sierra Nevada, via the Carson River, has provided the main inflow of fresh water to the wetlands. Between 40 and 60 percent of the annual flow has come from runoff from April through July, thereby flushing the wetlands of accumulated salts and other dissolved solids. As inflow of water from the Carson River tapered off in summer and as evaporation increased, the wetlands would shrink. Shallower, more saline marsh habitats remained. Id. at 3-59. 20 These fluctuations in inflow created a variety of habitats and attracted diverse animal species, including ducks, geese, pelicans, wading birds, and shorebirds. Id. at 3-59 to 3-60; S. Rep. No. 101-555, at 16. Over 410,000 ducks, 28,000 geese and 14,000 swans have been observed using the area annually during wet year spring and fall migrations. S. Rep. No. 101-555, at 16. In addition, Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge, located in Pyramid Lake, supports the largest nesting colony of American white pelicans in North America . . . . The number of young pelicans produced at Anaho Island dropped from 6,000 in 1987 to 300 in 1989. Id. at 17. 21 As water upstream from the wetlands was diverted for agricultural purposes, the Stillwater marshes, Carson Lake, and Carson sink largely dried up. Episodic flooding, which had once sent voluminous springtime flows into the marshes was contained by Lahontan Dam and stored in Lahontan Reservoir for irrigation use. WEIS at 3-60. By 1987, less than 15 percent of the wetlands remained, just 15,000 acres. S. Rep. No. 101-555, at 16. Although the situation has improved somewhat, the Newlands Project is widely acknowledged to have contributed substantially to the loss of wetland acreage by eliminating areas entirely or by intercepting clean water supplies and substitut[ing] agricultural drainage. Id. Waterfowl still use the remaining wetlands. As the water evaporates, however, naturally occurring trace elements such as arsenic, boron, lithium, molybdenum, mercury and selenium are becoming concentrated, some reaching toxic levels.  Id. No one disputes the fact that the survival of the Lahontan Valley wetlands depends upon significantly increased firm supplies of clean water. In fact, even before passage of the Settlement Act, funds had been appropriated for acquisition of water rights for this purpose. WEIS, at 1-33 to 1-34 (The Service's Proposed Action and action alternatives would be a continuation of a water rights acquisition program for the Lahontan Valley wetlands which was first initiated by the Service in 1989 under previous appropriations and existing authorities (not Public Law 101-618).).