In December, after we posted links to papers by Ron Oremland with the US Geological Survey, Ron sent us a few more references. These are now available here on the Mono Basin Clearinghouse. He also included a few references from lakes with similarities to Mono Lake, such as Big Soda Lake in Nevada and Searles Lake, California.

This brings us to 40 scientific papers or abstracts related to Mono Lake or arsenic that can be downloaded from this page.

Mono Basin March 1st snow surveys aren’t all in yet, but so far surveys in the Lee Vining Creek drainage have been completed. In percent of the April 1st average snow water content, Tioga Pass was 105%, Saddlebag Lake was 110%, and Ellery Lake was 128%. This averages 114% for April 1st and 134% for March 1st.  Statewide, so far the totals are 109% for April 1st and 124% for March 1st, and ranging from 66% for the Scott River to 225% for the Tule River (March 1). The basins adjacent to Mono (more…)

In 1994, the State Water Resources Control Board issued Decision 1631, restoring Mono Lake and its tributary streams through a plan of reduced water diversions to Los Angeles. At that time, the decision considered LA’s water supply projections:

The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) projects that the city will use approximately 700 thousand acre-feet per year by 1995, increasing to 756.5 thousand acre-feet by 2010 due to population growth. DWP cautions, however, that large uncertainties exist regarding future projections.

The decision went on to (more…)

The Mono Basin’s wet weather suddenly ended January 3rd, and aside from 0.16 inches of precipitation on January 30th, there was no measurable precipitation until February 16th! That is 27 dry days in a row, then one day of precipitation, followed by another 16 dry days! Total January precipitation in Lee Vining added up to (more…)

After 28 years of annual gull research on Mono Lake’s islands, you might wonder if there are any unanswered questions still out there. After reading PRBO’s 2010 report on the gull research (you can download the report here), the answer is clearly “yes”—and some of those questions were answered this year.

First, the results from the counts done every year. The 2010 California Gull population at Mono Lake was (more…)

Late afternoon sunshine lights up Mono Lake's islands. Photo by Elin Ljung.

It was a remarkable December for precipitation, as well as snowfall at the higher elevations. Following a rainy October and a snowy November, December 2010 brought most areas of the Mono Basin and Owens Valley very close to seasonal average precipitation and snowfall—with the majority of the wet season left to go! (more…)

From Friday through Monday a very wet storm dropped copious amounts of rain and snow, totaling 5.66 inches of water content (in about 20 inches of snow) in Lee Vining, 2.93 inches at Cain Ranch, and 11.5 inches at Gem Pass. Snow levels were between 6,000 and 8,000 feet Friday through Sunday. Since Sunday night when the cold front (more…)

GFAJ-1 bacteria.

Ron Oremland with the US Geological Survey has been studying elements and microbes in Mono Lake for a long time. Staff with the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve and the Mono Lake Committee have been in contact with him in order to help the interpretive partnership at Mono Lake (National Forest Scenic Area, State Natural Reserve, and Mono Lake Committee) develop interpretive materials to explain NASA’s arsenic bacteria discovery to the public.  You can read 24 scientific papers on arsenic and Mono Lake (more…)

Hot … er, cold … on the heels of the rainiest October on record, at our Lee Vining weather station, the Mono Lake Committee measured 21.3 inches of snow—the most snowfall in November since 1994! Almost all the snow fell between the Saturday before and the Sunday after Thanksgiving. This resulted in lots of traffic accidents due to the slippery roads combined with holiday traffic.

The total precipitation for October and November was (more…)

Thanks to the Mono Lake Committee’s efforts to save Mono Lake starting in 1978, the lake still exists today and is available for scientific discoveries such as the incredible finding NASA announced yesterday. Geoff McQuilkin, the Committee’s Executive Director, had a few words to say to our local media about the discovery.

And don’t miss viewing fantastic scenic Mono Lake film footage from the Mono Lake Committee’s film.