Walker River

The Walker River is a river in west-central Nevada in the United States, approximately 62mi long. Fed principally by snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, it drains an arid portion of the Great Basin southeast of Reno and flows into the endorheic basin of Walker Lake. The river is an important source of water for irrigation in its course through Nevada; water diversions have reduced its flow such that the level of Walker Lake has fallen 160ft between 1882 and 2010. The river was named for explorer Joseph Reddeford Walker.CourseThe Walker River is formed in southern Lyon County, 9mi south of Yerington, by the confluence of the East Walker and West Walker rivers. The West Walker River originates at Tower Lake in Mono County, California, 9623ft above sea level in the Stanislaus National Forest. It flows north through a rugged canyon which provides the route for U.S. Route 395. It then emerges into Antelope Valley, where some water is diverted to the Topaz Lake reservoir, enters Nevada in Douglas County and turns northeast. It flows through Hoye Canyon into Lyon County, then across the Smith Valley, past Smith, and finally through Wilson Canyon into the Mason Valley where it joins the East Walker.