The purpose of the assessment presented here was to identify and evaluate stressors and threats to groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in Nevada by using the Nevada iGDE database along with additional data. Stressors were considered things that are currently impacting GDEs, whereas threats were things that could potentially impact GDEs in the future. In consultation with managers and scientists, we identified five themes of stressors and threats:
- groundwater withdrawals
- climate
- ungulates
- non-native species
- additional impacts due to human development
A couple of key findings were that almost 40 percent of the over 6,500 wells we analyzed had significantly falling groundwater level trends, and all of Nevada is projected to be more "droughty" in the future, which could increase the importance of groundwater as a buffer for less reliable surface water. Raw spatial data from this assessment as well as the original Nevada iGDE database can be downloaded here.
Report
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Fact Sheet
Fact sheet for Stressor and Threat Assessment of Nevada Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary of Stressor and Threat Assessment of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (May 2022)
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Report without appendices
Report and Executive Summary of Stressor and Threat Assessment of Nevada Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (no appendices)
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Appendices A through Q
Appendices A through Q of the Stressor and Threat Assessment of Nevada Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems Find appendices on our Conservation Gateway page
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