Support letters needed!
Update: The comment period is now closed. Thank you to all of you who sent a letter to the State Water Board.
The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) has asked the State Water Board for permission to skip delivering required springtime high flows to Rush Creek.
You can make a difference by writing a letter today! Instead of waiving stream restoration rules year after year, the State Water Board can establish new requirements that continue the restoration of Rush Creek until DWP’s long-overdue replacement of its malfunctioning aqueduct intake valve is successfully completed.
The State Water Board is accepting public comments on DWP’s request until 4:30pm, May 8, 2025.
The DWP has known its aging, and now failing, aqueduct valve at Grant Lake Reservoir in the Mono Basin has needed replacement for a decade. In 2023 the valve began malfunctioning and its ability to deliver water to Rush Creek was reduced by half. (Read more about DWP’s failing infrastructure here.)
Now DWP has submitted a Temporary Urgency Change Petition (TUCP) asking the State Water Board for permission to skip delivering the required springtime high flows to Rush Creek. These annual flows are essential for the damaged creek’s recovery and achieving the mandated restoration of the fishery, riparian forests, and wildlife habitats. This is the second of what appears will be many TUCP requests for flow waivers; DWP’s own studies say it will take at least a decade to complete repairs.
DWP’s request neglects the restoration of Rush Creek and essentially asks for a free pass. DWP offers no solutions that attempt to achieve the required restoration flows, no mitigations to impacts, no alternative operations plans, no collaboration with key parties, and no contingency plans.
The Mono Lake Committee is calling for the State Water Board to require DWP to operate its facilities differently in order to make sure Rush Creek receives required restoration flows while its lengthy repair process is underway. The Committee is also calling for impact mitigations, contingency plans in case of further valve failure, frequent meetings of the involved parties to ensure collaboration, and other measures.
The State Water Board is accepting public comments on DWP’s request until May 8. Your letter will make a difference. Rush Creek should not have to suffer as a result of DWP running its infrastructure to the point of failure.
What about Mono Lake? The critical State Water Board hearing on the low level of Mono Lake still looms large. But as we work toward a plan that ensures Mono Lake recovers to a healthy level we can’t let DWP backslide on restoration of the streams. You can read more about the Rush Creek restoration program and the significance of the required Stream Ecosystem Flows here.
Water exports, lake level, and stream restoration are all connected. In fact, DWP is actively impeding restoration by planning to maximize water exports from the Mono Basin this year. This will lower Grant Lake Reservoir, just like DWP did last year by exporting in excess of the Los Angeles Mayor’s 4,500 acre-foot voluntary commitment.
And a low reservoir reduces the chance of a beneficial reservoir spill that provides Rush Creek with restoration flows that can no longer be delivered through DWP’s malfunctioning aqueduct valve. Maximized exports also ultimately prevent Mono Lake from rising to the ecologically healthy level mandated by the State Water Board back in 1994.
Top photo by Geoff McQuilkin.