Existing comment:
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 |