The Walker Basin Conservancy has acquired 1,200 acre feet of decreed storage water from Poore Lake, Calif., in the headwaters of the Walker River watershed. This transaction marks the first water acquisition for environmental benefit of the Walker River and Walker Lake historically diverted in California. … Adaptive management will keep land in Antelope Valley in agricultural production and increase the flows of the West Walker River in California and on to Walker Lake. This water right is stored in Poore Lake, a reservoir in Mono County that feeds Poore Creek and the Pickel Meadow Wildlife Area before joining the West Walker River. Poore Creek and the downstream habitats it supports have substantial conservation value and will benefit from enhanced creek flows and riparian health.

Other conservation news:

• San Francisco Estuary Institute: Blog: Helping California track and protect its wetlands
• High County News: How one California community is turning an old oil field into protected habitat
• E&E News by Politico: California to protect SoCal butterfly over developers’ objections
• University of Nevada, Reno: What are rivers really worth? University of Nevada, Reno and partners lead a global rethink of freshwater value