Water and Related Land Resources, Humboldt River Basin, Nevada

Excerpts from the report: The Humboldt River Basin is situated in north-central Nevada, in the Great Basin section of the Basin and Range physiographic province. The basin comprises an area of about 17,000 square miles, or about 15 percent of the State. About two-thirds of the Humboldt Basin are in Federal ownership, and one-third in private. The Bureau of Land Management administers 6,405,000 acres, or 59 percent of the land within the basin. The Forest Service administers 701,000 acres, or about 6.4 percent. Responsibility for the remainder of the Federal land is lodged with the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Bureau of Reclamation controls 102,900 acres, and approximately 21,600 acres are held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for various Indian tribes and colonies. Historically and currently, the use of water in the Humboldt Basin is for agricultural purposes, and the outlook at this time is for agriculture and recreation to share dominance as the principal water-using industries. Development in most of the basin has reached a stage where further expansion and stabilization of the agricultural industry is dependent upon more efficient utilization of water, and the development of salvaged or new water supplies. The State of Nevada recognized the need for a systematic survey of water and related land resource conditions and problems in the Humboldt River Basin. It was felt that such a survey would develop information for the coordination of programs and projects in the basin. This report is a basinwide summary of information from a cooperative survey of the Humboldt River Basin by the Nevada State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The summary is based on 11 sub-basin reports which were prepared concerning water and related land resources for the people of Nevada, and particularly for the people of the Humboldt River Basin.