KQED has posted on their website an excellent primer on how water and power use in California are connected. Engaging cartoons convey how Water Needs Power, and how producing Power Needs Water. These short cartoons are the most effective communication tools I’ve ever seen on this subject.

For those who like to consume their information on California water in a more-voluminous, less-artistic, more-policy-oriented way, in December the Pacific Institute released its California Water Footprint report. Full of graphs and detailed information about water use, in this report you can learn things such as: meat and dairy products account for 47% of California’s water footprint, or 93% of California’s water (that is used to produce goods and services) is used to produce agricultural goods and services.

Number 2 on our Top Ten highlights list is the intensive process of planning for a 21st century aqueduct that can deliver restoration flows to Mono Lake’s tributaries at the times they need it the most, deliver water to Mono Lake so it can rise to the management level of 6392 feet above sea level, as well as efficiently export water to Los Angeles.

An aerial view of Rush Creek, the Rush Creek return ditch, and Grant Lake Reservoir, which are key to the 21st century aqueduct discussions. Photo by Geoffrey McQuilkin.

If you’ve been following the Mono Lake Newsletter, you’ll know that the Committee has been working intensively on this process for nearly two years. (more…)

Meet at the Mono Lake Committee at 8:30am this Saturday, September 15 for the Great Sierra River Cleanup—we’ll be cleaning up the shore of Lundy Lake Reservoir! Please wear closed-toed shoes, be ready for fall weather, and bring water. We’ll provide the snacks. (more…)

A week ago Saturday an unusual event took place on the Dana Glacier at the Sierra Crest. As part of Climate Impacts Day, a project organized by 350.org, a group of climbers unfurled an 80-foot-square banner that read “I’m melting” across the glacier. And it’s true.

Dana Glacier's "I'm melting" banner. Photo courtesy of 350.org.

The article includes a quote about the Sierra’s dramatically-shrinking glaciers from Yosemite National Park’s geologist Greg Stock: “Given the amount of change we’ve seen even over the past few decades, I think it’s safe to say that those glaciers will be gone in 100 years. They may even be gone in 50 years and there’s a chance that some of them will be gone in 20 years.”

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…)

By now I’m sure you’ve guessed it … our #1 highlight for Mono Lake in 2011 was getting the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve removed from California’s state park closure list. It was, first and foremost, a group effort—with Mono Lake Committee members playing a key role in writing and signing thousands of letters and petitions that got the attention of key decision-makers in Sacramento as they were hand-delivered to their offices each week. Finding creative solutions (the working mantra of the Mono Lake Committee) played a key role in the effort, and we are enthusiastic about The Bodie Foundation stepping up (more…)

Here in the office we call it the Collaborative Aqueduct Modernization & Management Plan, or CAMMP for short. But when we say things like, “Geoff, Lisa, and Morgan are CAMMP-ing,” it’s not what it sounds like. CAMMP is a State Water Board mandated series of facilitated meetings embarked upon by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, the California Department of Fish & Game, California Trout, the State Water Board-appointed Stream Scientists, and the Mono Lake Committee with the goal of working through the details of implementing the scientific streamflow prescriptions issued in 2010 and the associated aqueduct modernization necessary for the aging infrastructure to be able to reach the restoration goals at Mono Lake.

So … what does all that mean? It means that (more…)

Number 8 of the top 11 of 2011 is actually recognition of three major celebrations—the Andrea Lawrence Award Dinner, the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua, and the Defender of the Trust Award ceremony. Yee-haw! (more…)