2026 Amargosa State of the Basin Report

This 2025 State of the Basin Report (SOBR) was prepared by Roux Associates, Inc. (Roux) on behalf of the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) as part of a much larger effort that is being conducted between ABC, the Amargosa Conservancy (AC), California Botanical Garden, River Partners, and the University of California, Davis (UCD) under a grant from the California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB). This report focuses on conditions in the Middle Amargosa Valley Groundwater Basin (California Department of Water Resources [DWR] groundwater basin #6-20). Despite that focus, descriptions of conditions and issues in surrounding basins that may affect the Middle Amargosa Valley Groundwater Basin are also described.

The purpose of the current scope of work is to improve our understanding of the groundwater flow paths to the Amargosa River and surrounding springs, and to continue to develop baseline spring, river flow and groundwater-level monitoring, update and improve upon the southern Death Valley portion of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) developed Death Valley Regional Flow System Model (DV3), to prepare a current SOBR, and to draft another SOBR at the end of the project during the first quarter of 2028.