Plate 1. Map showing water-table contours in Smith Valley, Mason Valley, and lower Walker River basin, autumn 2006. during the 2005 spring runoff which followed a 5-year drought. No additional losses were measured during 2006 even though there was continuous flow, indicating bank and aquifer storage had been filled. Water-table contours and upward vertical gradients indicate Walker Lake is the final discharge point for groundwater in the lower Walker River basin. Purpose and Scope This report describes the hydrologic setting of the Walker River basin and a conceptual hydrologic model of the relations among streams, groundwater, and Walker Lake. The report emphasizes the lower Walker River basin from the streamflowgaging station Walker River near Wabuska, Nev. (Wabuska gage, 10301500; fig. 4), to the Hawthorne Army Ammunition Depot (Army Depot) near Hawthorne, Nev. (fig. 1). Surfacewater/groundwater interactions and groundwater flow directions in Smith and Mason Valleys, the most agricultural part of the Walker River basin, also are described. Data were collected from 2004 through 2008.

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the historic highstand of Walker Lake occurred in 1868 and estimated the highstand was between 4,089 feet and 4,108 feet. By 1882, Mason Valley was predominantly agricultural. The 7-26 feet decline in lake-surface altitude between 1868 and 1882 could partially be due to irrigation diversions during this time.

Knowledge of the characteristics of highway runoff (concentrations and loads of constituents and the physical and chemical processes which produce this runoff) is important for decision makers, planners, and highway engineers to assess and mitigate possible adverse-impacts of highway runoff on the Nation's receiving waters. In October, 1996, the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey began the National Highway Runoff Data and Methodology Synthesis to provide a catalog of the pertinent information available; to define the necessary documentation to determine if data are valid (useful for intended purposes), current, and technically supportable; and to evaluate available sources in terms of current and foreseeable information needs. This paper is one contribution to the National Highway Runoff Data and Methodology Synthesis and is being made available as a U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report pending its inclusion in a volume or series to be published by the Federal Highway Administration. More information about this project is available on the World Wide Web at

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