How Much Is Your Water Worth
The primary mission of the Walker Basin Conservancy is to restore and maintain Walker Lake, while protecting the agricultural, environmental and recreational interests in the Walker Basin. We are seeking to reverse the decline of Walker Lake through a voluntary market-based program working with willing sellers to acquire water rights for the benefit of the lake.
The Water Rights Estimator provides a quick and easy way for water right owners to get a market value estimate of their water rights. The estimator requires users to input basic information from their Walker River Irrigation District (WRID) card(s). It is recommended to have the most up to date WRID card(s) available in order to get an accurate estimate of your water rights. To request your WRID card(s), contact WRID’s Water Right Specialist, Sandy Neville, at sandy@WRID.us.
A water right’s value depends on several variables including location, size, and reliability. The reliability of a water right is estimated by analyzing its priority date fulfillment over a large range of previous water years. Purchase values of comparable water right transactions are also incorporated into the estimator to generate an estimate of a water right’s market value. Actual water right offers are likely to be in the range quoted, however, each transaction is unique and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss details and answer any questions you might have.
Please note that this estimator is for surface water rights in the Nevada portion of the Walker Basin only — if you hold other water rights in the Walker Basin and are interested in engaging with the Conservancy to learn more about their water right acquisition program, please contact Carlie Henneman by email at carlene.henneman@walkerbasin.org or by phone 775-463-9887 ext. 106.
Lastly, it is recommended that users access the water right value estimator from a laptop or computer. Although the estimator will work from a cell phone or mobile device, it is more difficult to enter the required information and could result in an inaccurate water right value estimation submission.
Helpful Links:
For more information on the Walker Basin Conservancy, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
For more information on the Walker Basin Conservancy water acquisitions, please click here.
The Walker River Basin Hydro Mapper is produced by the United States Geological Survey to form a common basis of understanding for water users in the Walker Basin. Interactive maps provide information on streamflow, snowpack, reservoir levels, and more. The tool also provides a basin-wide perspective on the impact of the Conservancy’s water acquisitions to support Walker Lake by tracking acquired water to the lake and monitoring lake levels.