A black and white photo of the small town of Lee Vining, taken from a hill above, showing about 30 homes and shops with Mono Lake and black Negit Island and white Paoha Island, and the full moon rising in the distance.

Human History

A black and white photo of the small town of Lee Vining, taken from a hill above, showing about 30 homes and shops with Mono Lake and black Negit Island and white Paoha Island, and the full moon rising in the distance.

The Mono Lake story, as it relates to excessive water diversions by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and the Mono Lake Committee, is by no means the only celebrated human story in the Mono Basin.

A Kutzadikaa Paiute woman wearing a long dress and bandana in her hair holds a large, shallow basket as she stands knee-deep in Mono Lake scooping up alkali fly pupae.

Kutzadika’a People

Buildings and mining infrastructure at Bodie State Historic Park.

Pioneers & Miners

Group of about 50 people with hand-painted signs and Mono Lake T-shirts and many with bike helmets on pouring water from bottles and vials into Mono Lake.

Saving Mono Lake

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Top photo courtesy of Jim Stimson.