Lahontan Valley Wetlands
Location
Nevada, United States
Category
Hemispheric
Basis for Designation
More than 250,000 shorebirds annually and 150,000 Long-billed Dowitchers (Limnodromus scolopaceus).
Size
89,031 hectares (220,000 acres)
Date Designated
May 1988
Site Owner
Nevada Dept of Wildlife
Truckee Carson Irrigation District
U.S Bureau of Reclamation
U.S Fish and Wildlife
Overview
The Lahontan Valley Wetlands consist of three wetland areas in the Lahontan Valley of northern Nevada, the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, Carson Lake and Pasture, and the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribal Wetlands. These areas contain a combination fresh and alkaline marshes varying from several centimeters to a meter in depth. They are dependent upon a blend of return flows from an irrigation project and acquired surface water rights.
In good years, the area hosts about 250,000 shorebirds. Several censuses by Paul Lehman and Steve Thompson (USFWS) during dry years (1987-1988) revealed numbers in the 50,000-125,000 range.
