http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/

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Drought has limited suitable habitat for ducks in Nevada as surface water supplies dry up. Wildlife experts say that ducks will keep flying south past the state, searching for better wintering grounds elsewhere if Nevada is too dry, resulting in hunters bagging fewer ducks. An aerial survey performed by Nevada Waterfowl Association found that many water supplies were very low or completely dry. At Carson Lake, the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge and Leter Reservoir, the water levels were 30 percent or less of capacity. Humboldt Wildlife Management Area had no water. In Elko County, Ruby Lake held less than 30 percent, while the Franklin Lake Wildlife Management Area was dry. Most marshes were dry, according to a retired Nevada Department of Wildlife waterfowl biologist who conducts the aerial surveys. With little water to attract ducks, populations were low in the state as a rule, according to aerial surveys and Department of Wildlife counts. The retired waterfowl biologist found a total of 50,000 ducks at seven locations, compared to counts of hundreds of thousands in normal years. Migrating ducks flying south for the winter begin arriving in Nevada in August and continue through the fall. Reno Gazette-Journal (Nev.), Oct. 29, 2014