Community energizes public process
by Heidi Hopkins
A public process, suggested last December during Mono Basin community meetings, has finally hit the road. Initiated by State Water Board staff member Jim Canaday, the process will focus on the management of the Conway Ranch, the Mill Creek restoration proposal, and related issues.
The public process is termed CREW— for Conway Ranch Evaluation Work-groups—an acronym coined by Canaday. It is designed to engage county residents, resource agencies, and public interest groups in constructive dialogue about land and water use in the north Mono Basin.
The Committee sees CREW as an excellent forum for examining why Mill Creek restoration is proposed—its potential contributions to the lake ecosystem as well as to the Great Basin environment—and for discussing practical alternatives to achieve those restoration goals.
While the mandate and the goals of CREW remain somewhat undefined, recent meetings have served to bolster the idea that CREW will be an effective means of melding scientific knowledge with public input. The process will help identify, clarify, and resolve issues. It provides a safe place for people to openly express their opinions about what should be done with Mill Creek water. It also will go a long way towards informing—and involving—the public in what may be several years of study related to Mill Creek, particularly if the State Water Board orders environmental review of this waterfowl habitat restoration proposal.
Three CREW workgroups have met so far. The Historical Land Use workgroup is gathering existing information on the history of ranches in the north Mono Basin, particularly the Conway Ranch. The Hydrology workgroup is bringing together information on the hydrology of the north basin, including the water distribution systems. The Stream Biology workgroup is focusing on the ecosystems associated with current water use and with proposed changes in water use.
Participants in CREW meetings include interested local residents, Forest Service staff, Bureau of Land Management scientists, People for Mono Basin Preservation, and the Mono Lake Committee.
Areas that likely will be examined are linked by their dependence on Mill Creek water. These areas include:
• Mill Creek and the potential it offers for restoring riparian and bottomland vegetation, raising groundwater tables, recharging springs, and maximizing freshwater conditions at the mouth of the creek, all of which will benefit migrating waterfowl and other wildlife;
• Wilson Creek, which delivers Mill Creek water to rights holders and which, because of the augmentation by Mill Creek water, currently supports a riparian corridor and a naturally reproducing population of brown trout;
• Conway Ranch, which has rights to Mill Creek water primarily for agricultural purposes;
• Thompson Ranch, which is owned by DWP and is kept green with Mill Creek water;
• DeChambeau Ranch, which historically has been irrigated with Mill Creek water (see sidebar for an update); and
• DeChambeau and County ponds, enhanced duck ponds between DeChambeau Ranch and Mono Lake.
CREW is formally linked to the Conway Ranch purchase. In the recent memorandum of understanding signed with the Trust for Public Land (see Conway Ranch purchase moves forward), Mono County identified its general interest in the property—for open space, fish-rearing, wetland mitigation, historic preservation, and/or waterfowl habitat maintenance and enhancement—and agreed to consider recommendations made by CREW about how to manage the ranch and its resources.
In a sense, CREW is getting a jump-start on the public scoping process, should the Water Board—in its decision on the Mono Basin restoration plans—decide to study the Mill Creek restoration proposal further.
Regardless of what the Water Board decides, CREW has a valuable role to play in the north Mono Basin. The Mono Basin waterfowl habitat restoration plan, the change of ownership of the Conway Ranch, the Forest Service management of DeChambeau Ranch—all are separate but linked initiatives that are calling for careful review of water management in the north Mono Basin.
The Committee is an advocate for CREW. The process promises to build bridges in the community. It will develop a foundation of knowledge in the Mono Basin about beneficial water use in the north basin watershed. Ultimately, CREW’s recommendations will help shape the future of the north Mono Basin landscape and ecosystems.
Heidi Hopkins is the Committee’s Eastern Sierra Policy Director. She’s not quite ready to see summer go.
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