8009

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8009
• Author: Natural Resources Law Center.
• Title: Restoring the Waters.
• USFW Year: 1997.
• USFW - Doc Type: Boulder, CO.
• Copyright Material: YES

r
.~
i
~\
Devil's Hole Unit of
Death Valley National Park
1952: Unit added io Death Valley
National Monument.
1962: Park Service begins to
monitor water levels.
1967: Devil's Hale Pupfish listed as
endangered.
1968: Hydrograph begins decline as
large capacity wells are drilled
and pumped for 12,000 acre
agricultural development.
1970: Drastic conservation
measures begin.
1971: Federal court temporary
injunction issued to halt
pumping.
1976: U.S. Supreme Court decision
in Cappaert v U.S. recognizes
prior water right of Devil's
Hole due to its designation as
part of a national monument;
permanent injunction limits
future pumping.
Ash Meadows, Nevada
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
and the Devil's Hole Unit of Death Valley
National Park are located approximately
90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada
in the Amargosa Valley. Ash Meadows is
the discharge point for a vast underground
water system stretching 100 miles to the
northeast. Nearly all the water at Ash
Meadows is "fossil" water, believed to
have entered the ground water system
thousands of years ago. Ground water
flows through carbonate rock faults and
fractures to the Ash Meadows area where
a buried fault acts as a barrier to flow.
Waterbearing strata come to the surface in
more than 30 seeps and springs, providing
a rich and complex variety of habitats.
The wildlife refuge is composed of about
22,000 acres of spring-fed wetlands and
alkaline desert uplands. Fifteen major
springs on the refuge discharge over
10,000 gallons of water per minute,
supporting at least 24 plants and animals
endemic to the area. Four of its fishes and
one plant species are listed as endangered
under the Endangered Species Act.
26
The Devil's Hole unit of Death Valley
National Park consists of 40 acres within
the Ash Meadows refuge surrounding
Devil's Hole - awater-filled cavern cut
into the side of a hill. The cavern, which is
over 300 feet deep, provides an environ-
ment of constant temperature (92° F) and
salinity for the Devil's Hole Pupfish
(Cyprinodon diabolis).