Sac Bee: Mono Lake protection benefits science
December 6th, 2010 by Geoff, Executive Director
The Sacramento Bee editorialized Sunday on the remarkable announcement from NASA and Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon about arsenic-incorporating bacteria found here at Mono Lake.
And their take home point is a great one:
Her blockbuster discovery, fascinating by itself, also demonstrates the serendipity of science.
Mono Lake would not even exist in anything close to its current form but for the efforts of environmental and conservation groups. In 1941, the Los Angeles Aqueduct reached into the Mono Lake basin, diverting most of its inflow. By 1982, the lake level dropped by 45 feet, the lake lost half its volume, and its salinity doubled.
The Mono Lake Committee, the National Audubon Society and others went to court, and the State Water Resources Control Board ordered the lake’s restoration.
Read the full editorial here: Sacramento Bee – Editorial: An Amazing Find in Mono Lake
