Project:  Upper Carson Slough and Crystal Spring Management Unit Restoration Plan Client:  United States Fish and Wildlife Service Date:  Project currently underway.  Site Location:   Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is located approximately 70 miles northwest of Las Vegas and approximately 35 miles east of Death Valley National Park.  Ash Meadows harbors numerous plant, fish, and invertebrate species that are found nowhere else in the world.

Surface water from within the Crystal Spring Management Unit eventually discharges from Lower Crystal Marsh.

Project Summary:
This project is a step-down plan from the Ash Meadows Geomorphic and Biological Assessment that Otis Bay completed in 2006.  The outcome of this project will result in a plan with sufficient detail to begin phased implementation of large scale hydrologic restoration activities.  Anthropogenic activities prior to the establishment of the refuge impacted endemic species and their associated habitat.  Recovery actions at Ash Meadows have focused on removing these impacts and recovering populations of native species.  Landscape alterations responsible for declines in native species include draining of wetlands for agricultural development, diversion of spring outflows to a large network of irrigation ditches, peat mining, and the construction of impoundments for water storage and irrigation delivery.  The largest scale impacts occurred between 1960 and 1980.  The development of a restoration plan for the Upper Carson Slough and the Crystal Spring Management Unit will allow the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to continue the recovery of native species and their associated habitat types within the refuge. 

Project Update:
This project involves a 2 year planning process and is scheduled for completion in 2010.

View the Upper Carson Slough and Crystal Spring Photo Gallery