To understand how Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) stream diversions affect Mono Lake in the era of climate change, the California State Water Resources Control Board commissioned UCLA’s Center for Climate Science to conduct a major study. Launched in 2023 on the heels of the Board’s Mono Lake workshop, which highlighted the perils of low lake levels and urgent need for action, the Board has indicated that the study will soon be released. A final report and interactive modeling tool are expected by March 2026.
Mono Lake lingers far below a healthy level due to decades of excessive water diversions by DWP. The recovery level of 6,392 feet above sea level, and the rules for how to get the lake there, are the responsibility of the State Water Board.
The UCLA report applies sophisticated modeling expertise to downscale global climate models in order to specifically assess how climate change has and will influence Mono Lake’s water level in the 21st century. It will be interesting to see how the impact of DWP’s water diversions, which have been effectively imposing an extreme, human-caused drought on Mono Lake for 85 years, will measure up against the impacts of climate change.
To answer State Water Board’s questions about the future of Mono Lake the UCLA team constructed a new type of hydrology model that will enable the Board to evaluate changes to its current stream diversion rules. We are looking forward to the release of this important new tool that will give the Board an additional way to compare different diversion scenarios. It’s time to get Mono Lake rising and to restore ecosystem health, air quality, and protect against climate change and future drought.
Top photo by Andrew Youssef.