“Carson Lake and Pasture” covers the wet and most of the formerly wet central part of “Carson Lake” Playa. Parts of “Carson Lake and Pasture” dry up seasonally and from year to year, depending on flows in the Carson and Truckee rivers and irrigation practices. Control of the public land of “Carson Lake and Pasture” was transferred to the Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Newlands Project. It encompasses approximately 121 square km (30,000 acres, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2009, p. 4) and was likely intended for development as farm land.
The Newlands Project was all about delivering water to farmers to make the desert bloom. That meant dams, canals, laterals, and headgates.
- “Drainage was not part of the original project design” (Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, 2010, p. 2-2).
- “In certain sections it was a matter of only a few years after the completion of a storage and irrigation system until the water table became a menace. This condition became so serious by 1921 that a drainage program was inaugurated” (Knight, 1935, p. 3).
- “[D]rain construction contracts were negotiated by the water users and USRS [now Bureau of Reclamation] in 1921 and 1925” (Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, 2010, p. 2-2).
- “[T]he drains south of the river terminate in Carson Lake or Stillwater Wildlife Management Area” (Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, 2010, p. 2-3).
The preponderance of irrigated lands are south of “the river” (i.e., New River channel) so most of the irrigation return flows wind up in “Carson Lake” or Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, which is in the eastern half of the former Stillwater Wildlife Management Area. “Carson Lake and Pasture” thus became an ad hoc dumping ground for spent irrigation water.
The Bureau of Reclamation took a hands off approach to “Carson Lake and Pasture”. The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District managed the canals and drains. “[L]ocal sportsmen formed the Greenhead Hunting Club in 1912” to lease part of the area in order to control access for duck hunting (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2009, p. 4-5). Livestock grazing has been allowed since 1929 and has been managed by the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2009, p. 12). Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) became involved in management after passage of Public Law 101-168 in 1990 and possibly before.
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Title I and Title II of Public Law 101-618 are known as the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Indian Tribes Water Rights Settlement Act of 1990 and the Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act of 1990, respectively. Section 206(e) of Title II authorized the Secretary of Interior to transfer “Carson Lake and Pasture” to the State of Nevada for use as a state wildlife refuge, provided that Nevada agrees to manage it “in a manner consistent with applicable international agreements and designation of the area as a component of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network”.
“International agreements” may refer primarily to the migratory bird treaties with Great Britain, United Mexican States, Japan, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which have been codified in U.S. Code Title 16, Chapter 7, Subchapter II, sections 703-712. These regulations prohibit (unless authorized by the Secretary of Interior, see section 704) attempts to, or acts of, killing, capturing, possessing, or transporting migratory birds but do not prohibit wrecking their habitat.
Most, if not all, ducks are on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s list of migratory birds (e.g., “General Provisions; Revised List of Migratory Birds”, Federal Register, March 1, 2010, vol. 75, no. 39, p. 9282-9314). However, hunting has been authorized for many migratory birds as implied by section 708:
- “Nothing in this subchapter” prevents States and Territories “from making or enforcing laws or regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of said conventions or of this subchapter . . . if such laws or regulations do not extend the open seasons for such birds beyond the dates approved by the President in accordance with section 704 of this title.”
So some migratory birds that visit “Carson Lake and Pasture”, such as ducks, geese, swans, and coots, can be hunted but others, such as white-faced ibis and avocets cannot (see NDOW’s “Nevada Small Game Hunting Regulations and Seasons”, which has a duck on the cover). Maybe wading birds are too heavy or don’t taste good.
The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (whsrn.org) was created by Manomet, a non-profit organization focused on bird research, education, and conservation. For a site to become part of the network, it has to have a lot of “shorebirds” (e.g., 100,000 annually for “international importance”) and the land owner or manager (e.g., private individual, corporation, institution, government agency, or groups thereof) must agree to make shorebird conservation a top priority and to manage the reserve to “protect, maintain, or enhance shorebird habitat”. The reserves are entirely voluntary and there are no legal obligations. However, Section 206(e) of Title II makes membership in the network a legal obligation for NDOW. 20,000 shorebirds annually or 1% of the biogeographic population of a species are the minimum requirements to qualify for the network.
According to the draft environmental assessment for the transfer of “Carson Lake and Pasture” (Bureau of Reclamation, 2009), NDOW management will “optimize vegetation preferred by shorebirds and waterfowl, and improve pasture management” for cows (p. 16). In 1979, “Carson Lake and Pasture” was opened to the public year-round for bird watching, boating, general shooting, and dog training in addition to hunting during the waterfowl seasons. That would continue as “[t]he property transfer would not affect the type of, or access to, recreation in CLP” (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2009, p. 20). It’s not clear what, if anything, would prevent NDOW from changing allowed uses but duck hunting would certainly continue.
What was the point of the transfer? My guess is that Nevada coveted the ducks. Part of Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge is closed to duck hunting and duck hunters wanted to make sure that that wouldn’t happen at “Carson Lake and Pasture”. The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve requirement was a way for the federal government to mollify birding enthusiasts and their sympathizers without imposing constraints that might annoy duck hunting enthusiasts and their sympathizers.
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That was the plan in 2009. I haven’t found a final Environmental Assessment or a Record of Decision. According to a May 5, 2021 article in the Lahontan Valley News, the transfer of “Carson Lake and Pasture” from the federal government to the State of Nevada finally occurred 13 years after the Draft Environmental Assessment and 32 years after Congressional authorization. With an area of 93 square km (“23,000 acres”), it will become NDOW’s 12th Wildlife Management Area. NDOW now has a short description for “Carson Lake WMA” on its web site (www.ndow.org/discover-your-public-land/#) but I haven’t found a management plan. There are 3 observation decks for bird watching, camping is not allowed, and some gates are seasonally closed. There is no mention of the Greenhead Hunting Club’s club house or user fees. The area of “Carson Lake and Pasture” shown on the Environs of “Carson Lake” Playa map is based on my interpretation of the legal description in the Environmental Assessment and differs somewhat from NDOW’s map of “Carson Lake WMA”, which has a straight southern boundary.
___This map is a screenshot of The National Map (Go to The National Map). The U.S. Geological Survey generally does not copyright or charge for its data or reports (unless printed).
___Blue shading represents, approximately, National Wildlife Refuges as traced from the PAD-US 2.0 – Federal Fee Managers layer of The National Map. Internal private lands are not shown.
___Pink shading represents, approximately, public land controlled by the Department of Defense, updated with the expansion of the Navy’s Fallon Range Training Complex approved in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
___Brown shading represents, approximately, land owned by the State of Nevada and managed by Nevada Department of Wildlife. This area is commonly referred to as “Carson Lake and Pasture”.
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