July 22, 1998
State Decision Offers Good News
For Mono Lake
Press Contact:
Heidi Hopkins, Eastern Sierra Policy Director
Mono Lake Committee
(760) 647-6595
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FINAL SEPTEMBER 2, 1998 ORDER!
For Immediate Release
Another milestone was reached last Thursday in the effort to protect Mono Lake, a unique saline lake just east of Yosemite National Park. The California State Water Resources Control Board issued a draft order calling for the restoration of stream systems and waterfowl habitat damaged by 50 years of water diversions by the City of Los Angeles.
"These environmental restoration plans are an important accomplishment in our 20-year effort to protect Mono Lake," said Sally Gaines, co-founder and currently co-chair of the Mono Lake Committee, the 17,000-member citizens’ group that led the campaign to protect Mono Lake together with the National Audubon Society and California Trout.
"In 1994, the Water Board and the Wilson administration supported protecting Mono Lake and restoring its public trust resources. Today, the state has fulfilled its promise to develop a blueprint for Mono’s restoration," added Gaines. The order requires the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) to reestablish lost stream and waterfowl habitats while still allowing the agency to divert water for consumption in Los Angeles.
Friday’s draft order, which will be officially adopted on September 2, is the second part of the Water Board’s landmark decision on Mono Lake. In 1994, the Water Board revised the water diversion licenses of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) to partially restore the lake to its former level and return water to the streams. This decision recognized that DWP diversions, which lowered the lake by up to 50 feet, had seriously harmed Mono Lake’s public trust values. During 50 years of diversions, Mono Lake had shrunk to one-half its former size, its tributary streams were desiccated, and its vast populations of migrating waterfowl plummeted to 1% of their former numbers.
"While there are parts of the ecosystem that will never recover, the restoration plans approved by the Water Board will help undo the damage," explained Heidi Hopkins, the Committee’s policy director in the Mono Basin.
"The centerpiece of the order is the stream restoration plan, which is scientifically solid and supported by all those involved," said Frances Spivy-Weber, executive director of the Mono Lake Committee. "We feel confident that the result will be a healthier, more vibrant ecosystem in the Mono Basin."
The stream restoration component of the order includes an extensive program to manage water flows in natural patterns, reopen abandoned stream channels, carefully monitor stream and vegetation response to flows, and distribute daily stream data on the Internet.
"The Water Board took a narrower approach than we’d hoped for on waterfowl habitat," continues Spivy-Weber, "but we’re committed to seeing the habitat restored and will work with the framework they’ve created."
The waterfowl habitat restoration component of the order confirms the importance of raising Mono Lake for waterfowl habitat purposes and identifies several projects for habitat enhancement. DWP would be required to pay for associated construction costs. Additionally, the order requires annual monitoring of waterfowl populations at the lake, facilitating later review of the success of restoration projects.
"The Board’s decision is strong and goal oriented within a focused scope. We see many issues remaining, from invertebrate research to bird censuses to environmental education, where Mono Lake will benefit from additional community, scientist, and citizen involvement,"concluded Spivy-Weber.
The Water Board’s restoration order takes another step toward resolving a long and frequently contentious struggle to balance the water needs of Los Angeles with the public trust values in the Mono Basin. Beginning in 1941, DWP began diversions to provide water to the rapidly growing city. With its tributary streams diverted, Mono Lake began to shrink, concentrating its salts, exposing a dry, alkali shoreline to the winds, and threatening millions of migratory and nesting birds.
In 1978, the Mono Lake Committee organized to protect Mono Lake. The Committee’s efforts were directed equally towards engaging public concern for Mono Lake and working cooperatively with the City of Los Angeles to develop alternative sources of water. Sixteen long years later, the Committee and its allies not only had garnered state and federal funding for water conservation measures but also achieved the Water Board decision that protected the public trust values of Mono Lake.
Surprisingly to many, DWP decided not to appeal the 1994 decision. Replacement water supplies were coming on line, made available to the city through the state and federal funding secured by the Committee and others. Voluntary water conservation also was gaining momentum.
"Conservation alone has been tremendously successful in Los Angeles, with the city rolling back its annual consumption to 1970 levels. It will save more water than will be diverted from the Mono Basin," said Committee board member Martha Davis. "The recycled water projects will provide the city even more water savings."
According to Committee Co-Chairman Ed Manning, it took the combined force of scientific and legal experts and dedicated political leaders to achieve the gains. The effort resulted in protections for Mono Lake, development of alternative water sources for the City, and now a plan for bringing back at least some stream and lake habitats lost during 50 years of water diversions.
"Mono Lake stands as a model of what can be achieved if you seek solutions that provide for the needs of both urban and natural areas," said Manning.
The restoration plans ordered by the Water Board were several years in the making. Initially required by the Water Board in its 1994 decision on Mono Lake, the plans were first drafted by independent scientists, modified and released for comment by DWP and subsequently modified again in a settlement agreement between numerous parties engaged in Mono Lake matters. The Water Board further refined the plans for its order.
"Mono Lake’s landmark protection continues as a model for resolving western water issues without sacrificing the environment," says Davis. "The Committee will continue working at both ends of the aqueduct to protect Mono Lake. In the Mono Basin, we will make sure that the blueprint ordered by the Water Board is implemented. In Los Angeles, we’ll continue to promote alternate water sources for the growing city."
While restoration will take years -- 20 years or more for Mono’s tributary streams to re-grow their cottonwood forests and for the lake to rise to its projected management level (25 feet lower than its prediversion level) -- people already can see positive change at Mono Lake. Since the 1994 decision, in part due to several wet winters, Mono Lake has risen an impressive 9.6 feet towards its expected management level of 6,392 feet. The lake level currently is 6,384 feet above sea level.
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Photos of the Mono Lake area and the text of this press release are available for download from http://www.monolake.org/press.
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The Mono Lake Committee is a nonprofit citizens’ group dedicated to protecting and restoring the Mono Basin ecosystem, educating the public about Mono Lake and the impacts on the environment of excessive water use, and promoting cooperative solutions that protect Mono Lake and meet real water needs without transferring environmental problems to other areas. The Committee is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
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