Challenges Restoring Springs on Public Lands in Nevada
Boris Poff1* and JJ Smith1
1Bureau of Land Management, Southern Nevada District
In the Mojave Desert springs are important water sources that sustain unique aquatic, riparian and phreatophytic ecosystems. Historically they have been important to Native American Indians, pioneers, miners, settlers and modern residents, such as farmers and ranchers. Major cities, such as Las Vegas and Pahrump were established and flourished because of major springs. Virtually all springs in the Mojave Desert have been altered by anthropogenic actions. As the reliance on surface water has shifted to groundwater and the anthropogenic economic activities in the Mojave have shifted away from farming, ranching, and mining, there has been an increasing demand to restore these rare but altered little ecosystems, known as springs.
Since resources are limited, there are many considerations go into determining whether or not to pursue a spring restoration project. What is the hydrology of a spring? Will there be water in the future? What aquifer is the source for the spring? Who has the water rights to the springs? Can BLM get water rights to the springs? Are there planning documents giving us guidance and the authority for such actions? Does BLM management have control over the actions negatively impacting the spring? What management actions are available to restore the spring? Are there threatened and endangered species or other special status species located at the spring? What level of NEPA & public outreach is appropriate? What about long term monitoring? What mechanisms are there to ensure durability? Those are just some of the questions we hope to address in our presentation.