In January Mono Lake rose 1/4 foot, and it has continued rising at a slower rate in February to today’s level of 6383.9 feet above sea level. This brings it to within 0.06 feet of the mid-August 2011 highpoint (the highest level since 2007). It should keep rising for another month before it begins dropping in April due to the dry year. Dave Marquart with the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve says he will probably have to reroute a section of the South (more…)

Interested in learning more about the leading water issues of today? Make sure you check out the California Water Policy Conference 21: From Water Woes to Water Wise in West Los Angeles on March 8 and 9. This conference will take place at the Westin LAX Hotel and will be two days filled with stimulating discussions and problem-solving on current water issues. Plenary speakers include (more…)

Lets talk water recycling … to be more specific, reusing wastewater to make clean drinking water, also known as indirect potable reuse. Many people may recoil or say “yuck!” to that concept, but according to a recent New York Times article, the use of reclaimed water is starting to be accepted in major cities, very slowly. Both Orange County and San Diego have established successful water recycling plants. San Diego’s plant produces a million gallons of water a day, while the plant in Orange County has the (more…)

The Mono Lake Committee is one step closer to turning on the first commercial greywater project in the Eastern Sierra. As part of the Committee’s larger storefront remodel, the new greywater system will connect the public bathroom’s sink water to the surrounding landscaping potentially saving thousands of gallons of potable water each year. The irrigation is sub-surface, and when visitors and staff wash their hands, the water will drain through dedicated plumbing to underground mulch boxes. From there it will slowly (more…)

Tickets are now on sale for the first ever Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Los Angeles, hosted by the Mono Lake Committee. You don’t want to miss out on this exciting event, which includes the LA premiere of our new film, The Mono Lake Story. We promise it will be a fun-filled evening with an excellent selection of inspirational environmental and adventure films.

• When: Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 7:00pm—one night only!
• Where: The Landmark Theater West Los Angeles, 10850 West Pico Blvd, West LA
• Tickets: $15/regular ticket, $12/student ticket with valid student ID, $25/Mono Lake Committee member deal for 2 tickets.
• Sponsors: Clif Bar, Mother Jones magazine, Osprey, Patagonia, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Interested in becoming a sponsor for this festival? Contact Carolyn Weddle for more information.

Seating is limited so make sure to buy your tickets soon.

Follow the festival on Twitter and Facebook for more hints on the great selection of films we will be showing throughout the evening. And keep checking our event web page for more festival updates. We hope to see you there!

Congratulations to friends and supporters of South Yuba River State Park—on Wednesday, February 8 it joined eight other state parks that have come off the closure list!

The South Yuba River.

Similarly to the effort that removed Mono Lake’s state park from the closure list, South Yuba River State Park’s allies collected 10,000 letters of support for the park, got the Nevada County Board of Supervisors unanimously on board, and are working on a parking fee collection strategy to bring funding to the park. Grassroots organizing, practical solutions, and making our voices heard is working—save our state parks!

In December of 2010 NASA researchers announced that they had found bacteria in Mono Lake that could subsist on arsenic instead of phosphorus. The study prompted much discussion on the web and in the scientific community, and raised welcome awareness for Mono Lake’s unique and exciting ecosystem as well as the ongoing research in the area.

Recently, Nature published the news that a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada have been trying to reproduce the results of the original study without success.

Since the January 20 post the web has been buzzing with fresh debate about the original study, the refutation of it, and the further research that is surely to come. Those of us at the shores of Mono Lake look forward to hearing and reading about GFAJ-1 for a long time. And the bottom line? Mono Lake—the source of the bacteria in question—is definitely worth protecting for many, many reasons, including the fact that there is value in looking deeper into research like this.

Have you heard? Mono Lake is for the birds … the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua planning team is hard at work putting together the eleventh annual weekend. Make sure June 15–17, 2012 is marked on your calendar.

Wilson's Phalaropes in flight at South Tufa. Photo courtesy of Marie Read.

Check out the recent updates to the website, and stay tuned as we add this year’s program and schedule. Remember to get up early to register on Sunday, April 15 since spaces fill so quickly.

It’s that time of year again—time to start gathering prizes for the 2012 Free Drawing—one of the Mono Lake Committee’s largest fundraisers. Thanks to the overwhelming support from our members and visitors, last year’s Free Drawing was a huge success!

This year I have been diligently working on gathering a collection of fabulous prizes for the 2012 Free Drawing. The prize list for this fundraiser will go out through the mail as well as in our Information Center & Bookstore. Exactly how many people will (more…)

Registration opened today for all the 2012 Field Seminars. The great selection of classes include birding, photography, kayaking, natural history, pastel painting, botany, geology, basket making, and much more! Check out the seminars and sign up today—spaces are filling quickly.