BGuthrie Photos: CA -- Mono Lake

CA -- Mono Lake:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. MONOLK_090730_018.JPG: West Portal: East of this site was located West Portal, the largest of 4 'camps' of company towns. Built in 1934 by the Los Angeles-Department of Water and Power for employees and their families who worked on the Mono Basin Proj- ect. At the height of construction, the town had over 200 residents and 26 buildings, and for its time, it had many 'modern' conveniences -- telephones, electricity, gas, mail service, paved roads, water and sewer systems (a metropolis by Mono County standards). By 1941 the proj- ect was completed and within a few years the town was abandoned. Although its existence was brief, West Portal made a lasting contribution to the development of Mono County. Today, its remnants can be seen near the base of the Mono craters. Dedicated September 13, 1997
2. MONOLK_090730_032.JPG: The rise on the left side of the lake is called Negit Island. The formation to the right of that is Paoha Island.
3. MONOLK_090730_034.JPG: A Rare Event: Tremendous Blast: Imagine a volcanic eruption 2,500 times larger than the 1980 Mount St. Helens blast. 700,000 years ago, such an eruption occurred fifteen miles south of here. The Long Valley eruption, one of the largest in recent geologic history, spewed more than 150 cubic miles of lava and ash into the air. The tremendous ash fall buried much of the Eastern Sierra region, including where you now stand. Ash fell on much of the present day United States and circled the earth for years in the upper reaches of the atmosphere. This massive eruption created a vast depression called the Long Valley Caldera. The caldera is 20 miles long, 10 miles wide, and contains all of present day Mammoth Lakes and half of Crowley Reservoir. Only a few areas of North America have erupted with such catastrophic force; the Valles Caldera in New Mexico and the Yellowstone region may be familiar examples. Eruptions of this size are rare and separated by hundreds of thousands of years. Evidence of the Past: The rust-colored rock formations about a quarter mile in front of you are composed of compressed ash from the Long Valley eruption. This soft volcanic rock is called Bishop Tuff. Here the exposed tuff has been eroded into interesting shapes by sand, rain, and ice particles carried on the wind. These outcrops are named the Aeolian Buttes -- aeolian meaning wind-caused or wind-blown.
4. MONOLK_090730_042.JPG: Hope for Our Water: Mono Lake's Story: Surviving the Past: Mono Lake has endured at least 760,000 years of dramatic geologic history. However, within the last 100 years, manmade (?) demands have posed the greatest threat to its continued health and existence. In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began diverting water from Mono's tributary streams. During the next 40 years, lake salinity nearly doubled, stream and waterfowl habitat disappeared, and large alkali flats emerged as the lake lost half its volume. A declining ecosystem, increasing dust storms, and dwindling waterfowl populations began to raise concern. In 19??, the Mono Lake Committee formed to educate the public about the plight of Mono Lake and to search for solutions to the problem. Education and a growing awareness of Mono Lake's plight led to an organized effort to reduce its decline. Individuals, environmental groups, government agencies and LADWP became involved in an organized effort to reduce its decline. Individuals, environmental groups, government agencies and LADWP became involved in a long, controversial struggle over Mono Lake's water. In 1994, the California State Water Resources Control Board decided that Mono Lake will be maintained at an elevation of 6,392 feet -- 20 feet above Mono Lake's historic low in 1982, but 25 feet below the 1941 lake level. Conserving for the Future: Diversions will continue in the Mono Basin, but at a reduced rate which will allow the lake level to rise. Through water conservation and reclamation (water recycling), Los Angeles residents can reduce their overall need for water. The Mono Lake story is proof that there are solutions to difficult water issues. The future challenges us to search for creative alternatives to stretch our limited fresh water supplies. One simple, cheap, and effective alternative is to conserve. Wherever you live, your water use affects a lake, river, stream, or groundwater source. Mono Lake reminds us that the fate of the earth's water resources is our responsibility.
5. MONOLK_090730_047.JPG: An Ancient Lake Endures: A Fiery Past: We can data Mono Lake's age by the Long Valley eruption, 760,000 years ago. When the volcano erupted 15 miles to the south, it deposited a thick layer of ash over the Mono Basin. Drilling on Paoha Island, the big island in the middle of Mono Lake, revealed continuous lake sediments above a thick layer of Bishop Tuff, the ask from the Long Valley eruption. We know Mono lake to be at least as old as this explosion, making it one of the oldest permanent lakes in North America. Local volcanic activity altered the size and shape of Mono Lake. About 300 years ago, magma pushed lake-bottom sediments above the lake's surface, forming Paoha Island. This new island displaced water and raised the lake's level. An Icy Past: Alternating periods of glaciation and warming have also raised and lowered Mono Lake's level throughout its existence. Thousands of years in the past, Mono Lake became an inland sea that was hundreds of feet high and five times larger than it is today. Several glaciers moved down the steep Sierra canyons and ended in carving the lake. Imagine gigantic icebergs falling off the rim of a glacier and floating wherever the wind blew them across the lake's vast surface.
6. MONOLK_090730_087.JPG: Navy Beach During the Cold War, Mono County was home to one of many remote facilities used by the US Military to test new weapons and weapons systems. A "secret military installation" operated by the US Navy was located along the south shoreline of Mono Lake. During the 1950s and 1960s several branches of the US Armed Forces utilized this test facility to conduct various research. Numerous top-secret exercises were actually performed here during what was called "seismic testing." However with the expansion of other nearby bases, growing public safety and environmental concerns, this facility soon outgrew its usefulness. In May 1962 all operations ceased and soon thereafter the facility was abandoned. Although many scientists, technicians, soldiers and sailors worked at this installation for many years, all that remains today of their activities are a few remnants and the name "Navy Beach." This monument and plaque dedicated as a California sesquicentennial event. September 11, 1999.
7. MONOLK_090730_089.JPG: Navy Beach During the Cold War, Mono County was home to one of many remote facilities used by the US Military to test new weapons and weapons systems. A "secret military installation" operated by the US Navy was located along the south shoreline of Mono Lake. During the 1950s and 1960s several branches of the US Armed Forces utilized this test facility to conduct various research. Numerous top-secret exercises were actually performed here during what was called "seismic testing." However with the expansion of other nearby bases, growing public safety and environmental concerns, this facility soon outgrew its usefulness. In May 1962 all operations ceased and soon thereafter the facility was abandoned. Although many scientists, technicians, soldiers and sailors worked at this installation for many years, all that remains today of their activities are a few remnants and the name "Navy Beach." This monument and plaque dedicated as a California sesquicentennial event. September 11, 1999.
8. MONOLK_090730_097.JPG: Oasis in the Desert: Mark Twain called Mono Lake the "Dead Sea of California," but nothing could be further from the truth. Mono is one of the most productive lakes in the West, teeming with plants and animals that have adapted to its salty, alkaline (soapy) waters. Mono Lake's abundant aquatic life makes it one of the most important wetlands in the entire western hemisphere for migrating and nesting birds. This simple ecosystem, while productive, is also extremely fragile. The loss of even a single species, such as the alkali flies or brine shrimp, could cause thousands or even millions of other organisms to be negatively effected. A Simple, Fragile Ecosystem: Tiny green plants called algae capture the sun's energy, then become food for millions of alkali flies and trillions of brine shrimp. Over a million birds feast on the shrimp and flies. As dead plants and animals fall to the lakebottom, bacteria decompose them. Their nutrients fertilize the algae, and the cycle begins again. How Tufa Towers Form: Tufa forms under Mono Lake's waters. When freshwater springs rich in calcium bubble up through the carbonate-rich lake water, the calcium and carbonates react to form a calcium carbonate salt deposit, which is called tufa. This solid, limestone-like material continues to develop, eventually forming vertical towers with spring water percolating up through and around them.
9. MONOLK_090730_109.JPG: Water Solutions: Mono Lake's Story: On September 28, 1994, a significant victory was achieved in the long struggle over Mono Lake's water. The California State Water Resources Control Board issued an order to protect Mono Lake and its tributary streams. A Fading Oasis: In 1941, the City of Los Angeles extended its aqueduct system into the Mono Basin, diverting water from four of the six mountain streams that feed Mono Lake. Without freshwater from the streams, the lake lost more to evaporation than it gained from inflow. Mono Lake dropped nearly fifty vertical feet, shrank to half its volume, and doubled in salinity over the next forty years. Miles of newly exposed lakebottom created unhealthy and unsightly dust storms in the windy Basin. These drastic changes affected the health of the lake ecosystem, impacting local wildlife and fisheries, migratory birds, and human health. The Struggle for Solutions: In 1978, a coalition of citizens' groups led by the Mono Lake Committee began to look for solutions to save Mono Lake. Recognizing the scenic and biological values of the lake, they called into question the legality of the City's water diversions. Then in 1983, the State Courts ruled that the Public Trust Doctrine (protecting navigable bodies of water for all citizens) applied to Mono Lake. According to this law, "the human and environmental uses of Mono Lake... deserve to be taken into account. Such uses should not be destroyed because the state mistakenly thought itself powerless to protect them." California Supreme Court, 1983. In 1990, the court ordered that the LA Department of Water and Power's activities must comply with Fish and Game Code laws to protect fisheries in the creeks below the diversion points. To re-evaluate the City's water license, the State Water Resources Control Board collected data and testimony from scientists, citizens, organizations, and agencies. With this information, they then prepared a management plan for the lake. On September 28, 1994, ten years to the day after the Mono basin was designated as a National Forest Scenic Area, the Board decided that the lake must be raised to an elevation of 6,392 feet, which may take 20 years. This is 19 feet higher than in 1994, but 25 feet lower than when diversions began in 1941. All parties agreed to accept the plan and move forward in a spirit of cooperation outside of the courts. The Future: While the lake may be saved on paper, much remains to be done to actually realize this goal. The next challenge for all involved parties is to develop and implement a restoration plan for the Basin's streams and wetlands. Now the question is no longer whether Mono Lake will be saved, but how it will be saved. Mono Lake's future depends on our continued appreciation and support. Together, we can preserve this valuable legacy for future generations.
10. MONOLK_090730_113.JPG: South Tufa Trail: A Living Lake: Mono Lake is often described as an oasis in the desert. From here it may be hard to imagine the abundance of life in the lake and around its shore. The one-mile trail winds along the shoreline and among the tufa towers, surrounding you with the unusual beauty and productivity of this ancient inland sea. As you walk toward the water, notice the lake level markers along the trail. Mono Lake dropped more than 45 vertical feet between 1941, when the city of Los Angeles began diverting water from the streams that feed the lake, and 1982 when the lake reached its low stand. In fact, standing here in 1941 you would have been waist deep in the water!
11. MONOLK_090730_121.JPG: Basin and Range: Up and Down: Mono Lake lies at the western edge of a geographical region known as the Great Basin. The Basin drains over 500,000 square kilometers, approximately 1/5 of the Western United States. Water that settles here never flows to the ocean. Its only escape is evaporation, leaving dissolved salt and other minerals behind. From Mono Lake, you could travel east climbing over mountain range after mountain range. Between mountains, your journey would continue through vast stretches of sagebrush and alkali flats. A Long Walk From Here: Moving east across Nevada you would eventually reach the Great Salt Lake in Utah, a sister lake to Mono Lake. Great Salt Lake, like Mono Lake, had no outlet, and mirrors a similar geography along the western edge of the Rocky Mountains, the eastern boundary of the Great Basin. Both lakes harbor exceptionally productive ecosystems and provide critical migratory bird habitat.
12. MONOLK_090730_143.JPG: What's Hidden Beneath Your Feet? Flowing Underground: This may look like a dry spot, but water moves beneath your feet. Surface water sinks through this porous soil until it hits a hard rock layer, then it runs downhill toward the lake. A spring forms wherever this groundwater emerges. Tracking a Spring: Looking toward the lake you will see rows of cream-colored rock towers known as tufa. The towers reveal where springs once emerged beneath Mono Lake. (Remember, all the land you are walking over was once under water.) As the lake level dropped, the tufa towers were exposed and the springs that formed them dried up.
13. MONOLK_090730_156.JPG: Petrified Springs: How Water Makes Rock: When calcium-rich springs flow up through the lake bottom, the calcium bonds to carbonates in the lake water. Together they form calcium carbonate, a type of limestone. This solid material builds on itself, gradually forming a tufa tower. When the lake level drops, the exposed tufa stops growing. See for Yourself: When you reach the shoreline, look for underwater springs near existing tufa. The fresh water will look like vegetable oil swirling up in the salty lake water. When the lake has been calm for several days, you may see delicate new tufa crystals forming around these springs. Fragile Rock? Tufa may be rock but it is fragile; please help us to preserve it. Laws prohibit both climbing on tufa, and collecting it.
14. MONOLK_090730_163.JPG: Saltier Than The Sea: Recipe for a Lake: Dip your fingers into the water. It feels slippery. Put a little on your tongue. It tastes both salty and bitter. You are experiencing minerals washed into the lake by streams and springs. Two key ingredients are sodium chloride (table salt) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). These and other minerals make Mono Lake 2.5 times saltier than the ocean and 100 times as alkaline. New Levels of Buoyancy: Mono Lake's mineral-rich water is much denser than fresh water, or even the ocean. This means objects float higher than normal. Gulls seem to have a difficult time keeping their feet in the water when they paddle. Fully loaded canoes float as if empty. Swimmers find it hard to sink! Although Mono Lake is far too alkaline for fish, its waters are full of other creatures.
15. MONOLK_090730_208.JPG: Note the rabbit
16. MONOLK_090730_249.JPG: Mono Lake in California
17. MONOLK_090730_320.JPG: Brine Shrimp: Always In Motion: If you stare into the lake during summer, you may see tiny creatures with black, beady eyes staring back at you. What you see is an ancient life form. These organisms evolved hundreds of millions of years ago and are the most primitive forms of crustaceans. Most of these brine shrimp live out their lives up grazers in the lake, midlevel in the food web. While their wiggly motion may not appeal to your appetite, birds thrive on brine shrimp. The swimming motion of the shrimp brings algae to their mouths, while their moving legs provide an effective surface for gas exchange and salt removal. Life Cycle: The brine shrimp you see today will not survive the coming winter. They often carry the eggs of their early summer broods in their brood pouches until they batch. Before they die, they begin producing overwintering eggs. These cysts sink and rest on the lake bottom where they enter a state of suspended animation. When the water begins to warm in the spring, development begins anew and the cysts hatch. The newly hatched shrimp will feed, grow and reproduce. The millions of birds that visit Mono Lake feast on these shrimp.
18. MONOLK_090730_327.JPG: Alkali Flies: Underwater Flies: Mono Lake's flies have adapted to this highly alkaline environment in interesting ways. The adult fly walks down the tufa to feed and to lay eggs underwater. It carries enough air attached to its holy to stay down for 15 minutes. Once an egg hatches, the emergent larva grazes on algae, extracts oxygen from the lake water, and stores alkaline waste salt in a lime gland. The larva becomes a pupa, the final underwater stage. During this stage, the pups grow into an adult, breaks open the pupa case and pops to the surface as an adult to begin the feeding and breeding cycle again. Surprisingly Edible! All life stages of the fly are fair game for birds. The Kutza Dikaa people depended on the fly pupae as a food source. After the thin shells are removed, the pupae taste and look like nutty, buttery rice. Traditionally, the Kutza Dikaa traded this treasured food with tribes in Yosemite and the Eastern Sierra.
19. MONOLK_090730_328.JPG: Life In The Inland Sea: Few Species: Great Abundance: Mono Lake's food chain is simple. Bacteria break down decaying matter, providing nutrients for tiny plants called algae. Brine shrimp and alkali flies eat the algae, and are themselves eaten by birds. Although there are few species, they are incredibly productive. Trillions of shrimp hatch yearly, providing food for millions of birds. Vital Yet Endangered: Abundance does not guarantee stability, however. A simple food chain is vulnerable to environmental damage. For instance, if the brine shrimp died out, huge flocks of birds would starve. The Mono Lake brine shrimp, a species unique to Mono Lake, and alkali flies have adapted to the lake's harsh chemistry over thousands of years. If that chemistry changes too much or too quickly, they will become extinct. For example, between 1941 (when stream diversions began) and 1941, Mono Lake lost half its volume of water and doubled in salinity. Research shows that as a salinity increases, the shrimp and alkali flies become less and less productive, until finally the species cannot continue to survive at Mono Lake.
20. MONOLK_090730_346.JPG: Water in the Mono Basin: When the Creeks Stopped: Mono Lake is fed by five streams flowing down from the Sierra Nevada. Their paths can be traced by lines of flush plant life winding through the sage-covered plains. Water draws wildlife -- the rattling call of the kingfisher and the trill of the dipper can be heard above the splashing cascades. These pure streams drew the attention of the city of Los Angeles in the 1920s. The city's Department of Water and Power (LADWP) was looking for additional source for its water supply. Through a lengthy court battle, they condemned the water rights of Mono Basin farmers. Eventually, they bought most of the watered land surrounding Mono Lake. In 1941, the aqueduct into the Mono Basin was completed, diverting part of the water from Rush, Lee Vining, Parker, and Walker creeks. With the flow of incoming fresh water reduced, Mono Lake began to shrink since water lost to evaporation now exceeded inflow. In 1970, the city doubled the capacity of their aqueduct system and began taking the entire flow of the Mono Basin creeks. The lake level dropped dramatically, falling as much as forty-five vertical feet. The decline caused Mono's water to double in salinity, threatening its simple, fragile ecosystem. The diverted creeks became dry washes. A Threatened Ecosystem: Biologists visiting the area noticed the impacts of the diversions on Mono's wildlife. The dropping lake level exposed a landbridge to island nesting areas allowing predator access. As the lake shrank, increasing salinity caused concerns that the brine shrimp and alkali flies -- which feed thousands of migratory birds -- would not survive. The once-famous trout fisheries in Mono's creeks were gone.
21. MONOLK_090730_347.JPG: The Struggle Continues: Take It To The Judge: Among the concerned biologists was David Gaines. In 1978, he and friends formed the Mono Lake Committee. the Committee's goal was to find alternatives to excessive diversions in order to stabilize the lake level. When LADWP refused to negotiate a solution, the Mono Lake Committee, National Audubon Society, California Trout, and others went to court. In an effort to win protection for Mono Lake, the Mono Lake Committee lobbied successfully for the creation of the Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve in 1981, and the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area in 1984. The court battles over Mono lake and its streams could fill a library. The litigation has challenged and changed the interpretation of California's water laws. The pivotal case is based on a doctrine called the "public trust." It requires the state to protect bodies of water for the use and benefit of the people. In 1983, the California Supreme Court ruled that the public trust doctrine required the protection of places like Mono Lake, even if this meant reconsidering past water allocations. The court said a "better balance" should be struck between the water needs of Mono Lake and Los Angeles. Determining was this "balance" should be has required over a decade of on-going legal action and negotiation. It fell to the California State Water Resources Control Board to determine how this balance would be met, but before their well-researched decision was released, two important legal events occurred. The first was a court order directing LADWP to stop diverting water until the lake rose to an elevation of 6,377 feet -- the minimum level the court felt was necessary for the ecological health of the lake. Then in 1989, the courts also ruled that LADWP's diversion licenses were invalid because they violated Fish and Game codes which protected fisheries below diversion points. The licenses had to be reissued with requirements that water must continuously flow in all creeks. LADWP was ordered to restore the fisheries to their pre-diversion (1941) conditions. On September 28, 1994 -- the tenth anniversary of the creation of the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area -- the State Water Resources Control Board released its decision regarding Mono Lake. The order will raise the lake by 17 feet to an elevation of 6,392 over the next 20-30 years. All parties involved have agreed to accept the decision and move forward (outside the courts) in a spirit of cooperation. Hearing officer for the state board, Marc Del Picro said, "Let this be known as the day we saved Mono Lake." While the lake may be "saved" on paper, much remains to be done to implement the extensive restoration work ordered by the decision. The Forest Service will be one of the interested parties working out the details of how to restore the creeks and wetlands of the Mono Basin during the coming decades. The Search for Solutions: Although Mono Lake's supporters and the Department of Water and Power have yet to reach an agreement, progress has been made. Concerned parties have met periodically to discuss out-of-court solutions such as water conservation and reclamation. We all can be part of the solution. Enough water to preserve placed like Mono Lake could be saved each year through water recycling projects and public education. By supporting water conservation and reclamation in our communities we encourage wise water use. We save money and energy, and the natural world benefits too. The creeks are flowing again. Birds and fish, willows and pines, rice grass and flowers are returning. Sometimes a kingfisher can be seen flying overhead with a sparkling trout -- proof that if people care enough, the beauty and health of the land can be restored. "Walking Lee Vining Creek, I have sometimes thought of myself as a stream, newly reborn, just beginning to grow. I can feel the icy water over me. I can feel the tender plants sprouting on my banks. I can feel deer, heron and bobcat leave their tracks on my shores. We are these streams, this lake, this land..." -- David Gaines, Mono Lake Newsletter, Winter, 1987
22. MONOLK_090730_363.JPG: Lake Elevation History: 1941: In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began diverting water from four of the six streams that fed Mono lake dropping the lake level 45 feet over several decades and affecting the lake's fragile ecosystem. 1978: In 1978, the Mono Lake Committee was founded with a goal of limited diversions and protecting Mono Lake. 1982: The lowest level the lake reached was in 1982 at nearly half its pre diversion volume and twice the salinity. 1994: In September of 1994, the State Water Resources Control Board decided to limit future diversions and maintain Mono Lake at an average elevation of 6392 feet. 1999: Currently, the lake stands at an elevation thirteen feet higher than its historic low and has risen one and a half feet in the past year. SWRCB Decision: It is estimated that it will take fifteen to twenty years of precipitation to raise the lake an additional seven feet to the state mandated level.
23. MONOLK_090730_365.JPG: Restoration and Recovery: Restoration ecology is the emerging science of repairing damaged habitats by approximating their natural processes and functions. At Mono Lake the key restoration strategy is based on restoring stream flow and raising the level of the lake, but "saving Mono Lake" requires additional tactics. The California State Water Resources Control Board also ordered the damaged resources be restored. The State Water Board objectives are to "restore, preserve, and protect the streams and fisheries... and to help mitigate for the loss of waterfowl habitat due to diversions..." The actions outlined in Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's restoration plans are designed to reinstate natural processes and habitat conditions. The most important action is providing the streams with variable flows that simulate the streams' natural fluctuations, which include periodic flooding. These floods eventually will raise the level of Mono Lake to an average level of 6,392 feet. Can Mono Lake be fully restored? Mono Lake's historic landscapes were living, dynamic ecosystems that will be difficult to re-create. Some of the processes are conditions of the historic landscape have been permanently lost or cannot be naturally restored. For this reason, certain "helping hand" activities such as tree planting, enhancing freshwater ponds and developing a burn program may help mitigate specific habitat losses. The State Water board's decision is a compromise: although the lake level will rise as much as 17 feet above its recent low point in 1994, it will stabilize at about 25 feet below its pre-diversion level in 1941. A "natural" balance will never be restored since water will continue to be diverted to Los Angeles. Nonetheless, many of the Basin's damaged resources should recover substantially. The streamflows outlined in the plan are expected to re-introduce channel complexity and dynamic functions that will support healthy fisheries and adjacent cottonwood-willow riparian forests. Mono Lake will rise, stabilize and fluctuate during wet and dry climatic cycles as it once did. Tracking recovery, adapting the plans: Monitoring plays a key role in Mono Basin restoration. Scientists will annually monitor the progress of stream restoration efforts and the effects of waterfowl habitat improvements around the lake. The information they gather will be used to recommend changes in the restoration program should it not be progressing satisfactorily toward agreed upon restoration objectives. This approach to managing the process -- called adaptive management -- allows flexibility in restoring a complex natural system. Since nature does not always conform to human imposed objectives, restoration is a continually evolving process. How long will it take? It will take 20 to 50 years for mature forests to re-grow along the streams, but already there is a dramatic change. Young trees are growing vigorously and wet-loving wild rose is out-competing sagebrush. Some resources will not be restored. For example, Rush Creek cut down through the Rush Creek delta as the lake level dropped. The stream channel cannot be brought back to its former level on the delta. Instead, the lake will rise and fill the downcut stream channel, creating an embayment -- a "ria" -- at the mouth of the stream. There will be new, different resource values associated with the ria. Monitoring: Monitoring is a means of tracking progress and providing information for making changes, if needed, to restoration.
24. MONOLK_090730_392.JPG: How Water Enters Mono Lake: "Half a dozen little mountain brooks flow into Mono Lake, but not a stream of any kind flows out of it. It neither rises or falls, apparently, and what is done with its surplus water is a dark and bloody mystery." -- Mark Twain, 1872 Although Mono Lake has no outlet, about 45 vertical inches (115 cm) of water is lost each year to evaporation in this dry climate. Freshwater in-flow is critical to replace this loss and maintain a healthy ecosystem. Streams: Five streams, fed by the Sierra snowpack, provide most of the freshwater flowing into Mono Lake.
25. MONOLK_090730_397.JPG: Petrified Springs: Mono Lake's "petrified springs" are spectacular examples of what nature can do with a few basic ingredients. Ask geologists what "tufa" is and they will tell you "it's calcium carbonate formed by the mixing of waters of different compositions." Tufa gets its name from the Latin "tofus" which means porous stone. Tufa forms underwater in Mono Lake.
26. MONOLK_090730_398.JPG: How Tufa Forms: Freshwater springs (calcium) + alkaline water (carbonates) = tufa (calcium carbonate) Calcium-bearing freshwater springs well up through the carbonate-rich lake water causing a chemical reaction that forms solid limestone, or tufa. Over many years, a tower forms around a spring. Tufa continues to form today where freshwater and lake water meet.
27. MONOLK_090730_410.JPG: Strange Waters: "... its sluggish waters are so strong with alkali that if you only dip the most hopelessly soiled garment into them once or twice and wring it out, it will be found as clean as if it had been through the ablest of washerwoman's hands." -- Mark Twain, 1872 Today the water in Mono Lake is 2-1/2 times saltier and 1,000 times more alkaline than the ocean. Streams crossing ancient seabeds and volcanic deposits carry salts and carbonates into the lake. Since Mono Lake has no outlet, the salts and carbonates become more concentrated as water evaporates.
28. MONOLK_090730_413.JPG: Alkali Flies: "... you can see a belt of flies an inch deep and six feet wide, and this belt extends clear around the lake -- a belt of flies one hundred miles long." -- Mark Twain, 1872 The above quote could easily discourage visitors from venturing down to the lakeshore. But there is no need for concern as alkali flies have no interest in landing on people or their picnic lunches. Also, fly numbers have dwindled since Mark Twain's day. An important source of food for shorebirds, the alkali fly is a fascinating creature.
29. MONOLK_090730_417.JPG: Mono's Own Shrimp: In summer, trillions of brine shrimp ply Mono's waters. Their colorful bodies move through the water as feathery appendages help them gather food. Adapted to the unique water of Mono Lake, these shrimp would not survive elsewhere and brine shrimp from other locations could not survive here. In 1872, Mark Twain said of Mono Lake's brine shrimp -- "No living thing exists under the surface, except a white feathery sort of worm ... which looks like bits of thread frayed out at the sides."
30. MONOLK_090730_420.JPG: Volcanic Islands: Paoha, the larger of the two islands, does not look volcanic because its surface is composed of lake bottom sediments. About 300 years ago, magma rose underneath the lake and pushed these sediments above the water level. Negit, the black island, was formed by volcanic eruptions that occurred between 300 and 1,700 years ago. Negit once hosted most of the state's nesting California gulls. When the land bridge emerged in 1977, most gulls moved to nearby islets to escape predators that could reach their nests.
31. MONOLK_090730_424.JPG: Negit Island
32. MONOLK_090730_427.JPG: Lee Vining Creek: Beyond this bluff, you can see Lee Vining Creek flowing into Mono Lake. For decades, most of the creek's flow was diverted to the city of Los Angeles. The plant and animal life that depended on the water died off. In the early 1990s, the state ordered that the creek's fishery be restored to its pre-diversion condition. Restoration has included releasing more water down the creekbed, rebuilding stream channels and pools, and replanting native trees.
33. MONOLK_090730_432.JPG: South Tufa: With its spectacular limestone tufa formations and easy lakeshore access, South Tufa is the best place to begin your exploration of Mono Lake. Walk through a grove of tufa towers formed by underwater springs in the saline and alkaline lake. A self-guided trail will help you understand Mono lake's unusual water, rocks, and wildlife. Drive 5 miles south on US 395, turn left on Hwy 120 East and follow the signs to South Tufa.
34. MONOLK_090730_433.JPG: Mono Craters: 40,000 years ago, the site of the Mono Craters was virtually flat. A series of eruptions, some occurring as recently as 650 years ago, created this mountain range, the youngest in North America. Panum, the youngest and easiest to explore of the craters, is located off Highway 120 East on an unimproved dirt road. Trails leading around Panum's rim and up its dome invite visitors on geologic adventures. Because the pumice sand surrounding the Mono Craters is extremely soft, many roads require four-wheel drive vehicles. Please use caution.
35. MONOLK_090730_436.JPG: Land Bridge: Can you see a white expand between Black Point and Negit Island? Before the City of Los Angeles began diverting Mono Basin streams in 1941, nearly two miles of water separated Negit from the mainland. When Mono Lake's water level dropped below 6,377 feet, the land bridge was exposed allowing coyotes and other predators to reach the gull colonies during the nesting season. This stretch of lake bottom has been a source of dust storms during windy weather. In 1994, the State Water Resources Control Board decision mandated that Mono Lake would be managed at 6,392 feet, ultimately submerging this problematic stretch of old lake bottom.
36. MONOLK_090730_442.JPG: Mono Lake: An International Reserve for Shorebirds: Tapestry of Life: Mono Lake's vital role in preserving a corridor of shorebird habitats is recognized in its designation as an International Reserve in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. The Network coordinates the efforts of private and governmental organizations to protect shorebirds and the wetlands they depend on. For nearly 2,000,000 waterbirds, including 35 species of shorebirds, Mono Lake is an "oasis in the desert." Shorebirds dependent on Mono Lake include the graceful avocets, skittish killdeer, perfectly camouflaged snowy plovers, and sandpipers, who you may see scurrying along Mono's shores. Several species of frequent flyers visit Mono Lake on their yearly migrations, including over 1.5 million eared grebes and phalaropes. Both Wilson's and red-necks phararopes depend on Mono's abundant food for their long distance journeys from the arctic tundra to the southern hemisphere. Mono Lake is an essential thread in a "tapestry of life" that has endured for thousands of years. Currently, many threads in these patterns are unraveling. Habitat damage is so extensive that California has lost over 90 percent of its wetlands. Several of the lakes and migratory stops in the Great Basin have been seriously compromised. The network's cooperative efforts to protect millions of shorebirds units countries in a global effort to maintain the earth's biodiversity and highlights Mono Lake's international responsibility.
37. MONOLK_090730_453.JPG: Black Point: Black Point, a volcano that erupted underwater, is an unusual sight on dry land! The eruption that spewed out this pile of black cinders occurred under a much deeper Mono Lake during one of the Mono Basin's many ice ages. As the climate warmed and Mono Lake shrank, Black Point was exposed. Its sharp cinders are minded and scattered on roads during winter to provide traction on slippery ice.
38. MONOLK_090730_455.JPG: Black Point
39. MONOLK_090730_470.JPG: Old Marina: Below you on the western shore of Mono Lake lies the site of Old Marina. Before water diversions from the lake's inflowing streams lowered the lake level by over 40 vertical feet, the marina was a focal point of lakeside recreation. Swimming, speed boat racing, and bathing beauty contests were common events at the Old Marina. If you would like to discover the remnants of the marina's past, drive north on US 395 for 1 mile to the parking area on your right. Reductions in water diversions are allowing the lake to rise again -- perhaps the marina will experience a revival some day.
40. MONOLK_090730_475.JPG: The old marina is down there. Old Marina: Below you on the western shore of Mono Lake lies the site of Old Marina. Before water diversions from the lake's inflowing streams lowered the lake level by over 40 vertical feet, the marina was a focal point of lakeside recreation. Swimming, speed boat racing, and bathing beauty contests were common events at the Old Marina. If you would like to discover the remnants of the marina's past, drive north on US 395 for 1 mile to the parking area on your right. Reductions in water diversions are allowing the lake to rise again -- perhaps the marina will experience a revival some day. Changing Lake Levels: Look toward the western mountains -- do you see faint terraces on the pine-covered slopes? These terraces are ancient Ice Age shorelines formed when Mono Lake was much deeper than today. Since that time, natural climactic changes have caused the lake to drop slowly. However, between 1941 and the early 1990s, the lake level declined rapidly due to human-caused water diversions from the streams that feed the lake. This most recent drop in lake level can be seen as a wide band of dusty white alkali encircling the lake.
41. MONOLK_090730_476.JPG: Changing Lake Levels: Look toward the western mountains -- do you see faint terraces on the pine-covered slopes? These terraces are ancient Ice Age shorelines formed when Mono Lake was much deeper than today. Since that time, natural climactic changes have caused the lake to drop slowly. However, between 1941 and the early 1990s, the lake level declined rapidly due to human-caused water diversions from the streams that feed the lake. This most recent drop in lake level can be seen as a wide band of dusty white alkali encircling the lake.
Wikipedia Description: Mono Lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mono Lake is an alkaline and hypersaline lake in Mono County, California. It has an unusually productive ecosystem, and is a critical nesting habitat for several bird species. ...

Conservation efforts:

In order to provide resources for the growing Los Angeles area, water was diverted from the Owens River. In 1941 the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power extended an aqueduct system into the Mono Basin. So much water was diverted that evaporation soon exceeded inflow and the surface level of Mono Lake fell rapidly. By 1982 the lake was reduced to 37,688 acres (15,251.8 ha) having lost 31 percent of its 1941 surface area. As a result alkaline sands and once-submerged tufa towers became exposed and Negit Island became landbridged, exposing the nests of gulls to predators (chiefly coyotes) and forcing the breeding colony to abandon the site.
Exposed tufa towers in Mono Lake; South Tufa, 1981

In 1974, Stanford University graduate student David Gaines studied the Mono Lake ecosystem and was instrumental in alerting the public of the effects of the lower water level. The National Science Foundation funded the first comprehensive ecological study of Mono Lake, conducted by Gaines and undergraduate students from UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and Earlham College. In June 1977 the UC Davis Institute of Ecology published their report, "An Ecological Study of Mono Lake, California," which alerted California to the ecological dangers posed by the redirection of water away from the lake for municipal uses.

Gaines formed the Mono Lake Committee in 1978. He and Sally Judy, a UC Davis student, led the committee and pursued an informational tour of California. They joined with the Audubon Society to fight a now famous court battle to protect Mono Lake through state public trust laws. While these efforts have resulted in positive change, the surface level is still below historic levels and exposed shorelines are a source of significant alkali dust during periods of high wind.

Owens Lake, which once sustained a healthy ecosystem, is now a dry lake bed during dry years due to water diversion. Mono Lake was spared this fate when the California State Water Resources Control Board issued an order to protect Mono Lake and its tributary streams on September 28, 1994. Since that time, the lake level has steadily risen. In 1941 the surface level was at 6,417 feet (1,956 m) above sea level and as of August 2006 it was at 6,385 feet (1,946 m). The lake level of 6,392 feet (1,948 m) above sea level is the goal, a goal made more difficult during years of drought in the American West.

--

California Water Wars
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The California Water Wars describes the disputes between Los Angeles, California and the Owens Valley over water rights. The disputes stem from Los Angeles's location in a semi-arid area, and the availability of water from Sierra Nevada runoff in the Owens Valley. ...

Mono Lake:

By the 1930s, the water requirements for Los Angeles continued to increase. LADWP started buying water rights in the Mono Basin (the next basin to the north of the Owens Valley). An extension to the aqueduct was built, which included such engineering feats as tunneling through the Mono Craters (an active volcanic field). By 1941, the extension was finished, and water in various creeks (such as Rush Creek) were diverted into the aqueduct. To satisfy California water law, LADWP set up a fish hatchery on Hot Creek, near Mammoth Lakes, California, ironically, not on a creek that was diverted.

The diverted creeks had previously fed Mono Lake, an inland body of water with no outlet. Mono Lake served as a vital ecosystem link, where gulls and migratory birds would nest. Because the creeks were diverted, the water level in Mono Lake started to fall, exposing tufa formations. The water became more saline and alkaline, threatening the brine shrimp that lived in the lake, as well as the birds that nested on two islands (Negit Island and Paoha Island) in the lake. Falling water levels started making a land bridge to Negit Island, which allowed predators to feed on bird eggs for the first time.

In 1974, David Gaines started to study the biology of Mono Lake. In 1975, while at Stanford, he started to get others interested in the ecosystem of Mono Lake. This led to a 1977 report on the ecosystem of Mono Lake that highlighted dangers caused by the water diversion. In 1978, the Mono Lake Committee was formed to protect Mono Lake. The Committee (and the National Audubon Society) sued LADWP in 1979, arguing that the diversions violated the public trust doctrine, which states that navigable bodies of water must be managed for the benefit of all people. The litigation reached the California Supreme Court by 1983, which ruled in favor of the Committee. Further litigation was initiated in 1984, which claimed that LADWP did not comply with the state fishery protection laws.

Eventually, all of the litigation was adjudicated in 1994, by the California State Water Resources Control Board. In that ruling, LADWP was required to let enough water into Mono Lake to raise the lake level 20 feet (6.1 m) above the then-current level of 25 feet (7.6 m) below the 1941 level. As of 2003, the water level in Mono Lake has risen 9 feet (2.7 m) of the required 20 feet (6.1 m). Los Angeles made up for the lost water through state-funded conservation and recycling projects.
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