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…)

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…)

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…)

Thursday was my last day in the field before a well-advertised storm was to drop 1–3 feet of snow in the Mono Basin. As I drove down to Rush Creek, the winds were picking up, snow was blowing off Sierra peaks, and lenticular clouds graced the late-afternoon skies.

Rush Creek bottomlands, a day before the storm hit.

The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) had just lowered the flows in Rush Creek and Lee Vining Creek, and I was checking to see if certain side channels were still flowing, as well as checking on a few other things before the expected deep snow made travel to the streams difficult. (more…)

Several new items have been added to the Mono Basin Clearinghouse Website, www.monobasinresearch.org. (more…)

In September, the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District released its Reasonable Further Progress Report for the Mono Basin PM-10 State Implementation Plan. You can download the 17-page PDF file from the Mono Basin Clearinghouse Website. The report summarizes progress since the last update in 2007 (the previous reports can be downloaded as well).

During the first six months of 2010, dust storms emanating from the exposed lakebed of Mono Lake exceeded federal air quality standards sixteen times (17 in one year would be a new record). The highest concentrations of PM-10 dust were measured in 2009, at almost 100 times the federal standard the highest concentration ever measured. (more…)

October 2010, the Mono Basin’s warmest October since 2005, set a new record for precipitation in Lee Vining: 3.74 inches! With data going back to 1988, last month beat the old record of 2.41 inches set in 1992 by 1.33 inches! It also beat the 1950-1988 October precipitation record from the Mono Inn, the previous home of our weather instruments (5 miles north). Median October precipitation in Lee Vining is 0.23 inches, usually our third driest month after June and July.

At Cain Ranch, just five miles south but slightly drier, 3.11 inches of rain set a new record going all the way back to 1931! (more…)

October 1, 2010 was the first day of the 2011 Water Year—Happy New Year! A Water Year in the Mono Basin runs from October 1 to September 30th. This lumps the winter’s precipitation into the same year as the following summer’s runoff, as well as the next year’s growing season.

The 2010 Water Year (October 1, 2009 — September 30, 2010) was near-normal (more…)

Now available on the Mono Basin Clearinghouse are documents pertaining to the construction of the Mono Basin extension of the Los Angeles Aqueduct:

Map of the LA Aqueduct facilities from Lee Vining Intake to West Portal
A 4.3 megabyte download, this high-resolution JPG file shows the control stationing and original names of most of the features of the Mono Basin portion of the LA Aqueduct. Click on the image at right to enlarge, or click on the link above to download the full map.

1933 Map of Mono Basin property ownership, hydrographic stations, wells, test holes, gages, and streams
A 2.4 megabyte download, this high-resolution PDF file shows the Mono Basin as of 1933. Included on the map are (more…)

We’re excited to announce the launch of The Mono Lake Effect, news and information about Mono Lake, delivered directly to your inbox each month.

The name was inspired by lake effect snow which occurs when cold, humid air blows across Mono Lake’s warmer waters, triggering snowfall in the areas downwind of the lake. It is also a nod to the fact that the wild and natural beauty of Mono Lake and the inspirational story of what has and continues to happen here, have a profound effect on many people.

In that spirit, The Mono Lake Effect will (more…)