tribe. Since before European colonization, the lake has been home to annual festivals celebrating the harvests of pine nuts and, historically, fish. The original boundaries of the Walker River Reservation contained Walker Lake, though subsequent allotment to white settlers removed the lake from the reservation. As early as 1885, the impacts of irrigation diversions on Walker Lake had been noted by the United States Geological Survey: "Captain Simpson reports the Walker River at its mouth to be wide and from to deep on June 7, 1859. A measurement of the volume of the river about from its mouth, June 4, 1881, gave per second as the rate of flow. In October of the following year, its bed was dry, and little, if any, water reached the lake from this source. This decrease during the dry season is due in a great measure to the extensive use of its waters for irrigation in Mason Valley". These diversions have resulted in a severe drop in the lake's level. According to the USGS, the level dropped approximately between 1882 and 2016. By June 2016, the lake level was above sea level, the lowest lake elevation since measurement began in 1882. As of 2022, Walker Lake has decreased by 90% in volume and more than 50% by surface area. A lake that was once 1/2 the area of Lake Tahoe is now 1/4 the area. The lower level of the lake has resulted in a higher concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS). As of the spring of 2016, the TDS concentration had reached 26 g/L, well above the lethal limit for most native fish species throughout much of the lake. Lahontan cutthroat trout no longer occur in the lake and recent work by researchers indicates that the lake's tui chub have disappeared. The decline of the lake's fishery is having a dramatic impact on the species of birds using the lake. By 2009, the town of Hawthorne canceled its Loon Festival because the lake, once a major stopover point for migratory loons, could no longer provide enough chub and other small fish to attract many loons. Conservation efforts Since the 2002 establishment of the Desert Terminal Lakes Program, Walker Lake has been the focus of significant restoration, conservation, and research. In approximately the first decade of the program, more than 100 peer-reviewed academic journal articles, presentations, posters, and research projects were made possible through