If you own a shovel and you like to dig, then you should consider becoming a geomorphologist. Geomorphologist Scott Stine has been digging holes in the Mono Basin since 1979. Last week during the second presentation in the Mono Lake Committee’s series, Refreshments with Refreshing ‘Ologists, Scott discussed the volcanic history of Mono Lake’s islands.

By digging holes, Scott can date (more…)

By this time in the summer many thanks are due to all the amazing people who have volunteered their time pulling invasive plants and watering trees at Restoration Wednesdays for the past two months. We at the Mono Lake Committee want to say a special thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers, Ken & Gayle Midas as well as Donna & Jerry Farris, who have donated their time every Wednesday for the past month and a half to aid in restoration efforts. They have enthusiastically pulled enormous (more…)

Enter the 2011 Mono Lake Committee Free Drawing today for a chance to win one of the great prizes! It costs nothing to enter (it is, after all, a Free Drawing!) but we would appreciate a donation of $5.00 per ticket. You could win an Apple iPad2, a Canon EOS Rebel 3 digital camera, one of several vacation packages, or a camping equipment package. Take a look at the complete list of prizes. If you’ve already received your tickets, return them to us in order to enter. If you need tickets, email Ellen with your name and address. Prize-winning tickets will be drawn on November 30, 2011.

This Wednesday, August 17, join Mono Lake Committee interns and local volunteers as we water Jeffrey pine seedlings along Rush Creek. The trees were planted in an effort to help restore healthy riparian vegetation to the creek, which ran dry for about 50 years due to excessive diversions.

Volunteers help water Jeffrey pine saplings on the banks of Rush Creek.

Jeffrey pines are unusual trees, growing primarily in a narrow corridor from southern Oregon south to Baja California. Large stands of Jeffrey pines occur right here in Mono County, where rich (more…)

At 5:55pm on Monday, July 4th, distant lightning fried the Mill Creek WebCam‘s Ethernet port and the router that connected it to the Internet. The camera still works, but the Ethernet port no longer works. While the camera is out for repairs, we’ve ordered a new one to replace it. That means the Mill Creek WebCam should return by the end of August!

A portion of the Mill Creek Cam's view on July 4, 2011, right before distant lightning damaged the camera.

We managed to get a really good deal and bought two WebCams, so we will replace the Mono Lake WebCam at the Scenic Area Visitor Center as well during the next couple of months. This should dramatically improve the quality of that image as well.

Join us for the second speaker in our lecture series, “Refreshments with Refreshing ‘ologists.” On Wednesday, August 10 we will host geomorphologist Scott Stine, a longtime member of the Mono Basin Science Council. Scott’s work has included researching many different topics ranging from lake level fluctuations to dating ages of tufa towers, and his talk will be focused on the volcanic history of Mono Lake’s islands. The talk will begin at 4:00pm in the Mono Lake Committee’s Theater & Gallery. Refreshments will be served. Contact Sarah at (760) 647-6595 for more information!

I was eight years old and it was my first visit to Sea World.

California Gulls wheeling over Mono Lake.

After viewing a spectacular performance by the famous whale, Shamu, I was walking down the boardwalk, munching on a delicious churro, a doughy cinnamon stick, when a seagull landed on my head. While grasping onto my hair, the gull proceeded to peck at my tasty snack. I was terrified. Ever since this horrifying experience, I duck when the shadow of a gull passes over my head. It was not until this summer when I came to work as an intern at the Mono Lake Committee that my fear began to wane and my curiosity (more…)

Now available to download from the Mono Basin Clearinghouse is the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power’s May 2011 Mono Basin compliance report. This annual report discusses previous year and current year operations and monitoring for the State Water Board-ordered requirements of the city of Los Angeles’ water rights licenses. Highlights are (more…)

The Mono Basin and Eastern Sierra were hit by intense thunderstorms last weekend, especially on Saturday. Rainfall rates of up to seven inches per hour were recorded in the Sierra! Debris flows closed both Highway 395 and Highway 120 West for short periods of time—in Walker Canyon, Highway 395 was buried under five feet of mud in places. Rush Creek above Grant Lake Reservoir reached the highest flow so far this season, around 400 cubic feet per second (preliminary data) as rainfall combined with snowmelt from the still-extensive unmelted snowfields in the upper watershed to spill through the full reservoirs.

Lee Vining WebCam view of Saturday's thunderstorm that closed Highways 395 and 120 for short periods of time.

At the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore in Lee Vining, we recorded (more…)