Marc Del Piero was a notable commenter at the State Water Board’s March meeting. Del Piero was a State Water Board member at the time of the 1994 Mono Lake decision and served as the hearing officer for the 46 days of testimony and examination that informed the decision, making him the Board member most deeply immersed in the Mono Lake issue.
Standing before the board this March, Del Piero spoke clearly and compellingly, laying out the job of the Board then, and now.
Protection of the Public Trust at Mono Lake is the law of the land, Del Piero pointed out. That’s what the 1994 decision is designed to accomplish.
Los Angeles’ water rights “are compromised if they don’t protect the Public Trust resources in the Mono Basin,” Del Piero stated. “It is [DWP’s] responsibility singularly,” he highlighted, citing multiple court decisions on the matter, concluding, “the responsibility is on the holder of the water rights to protect the Public Trust resources of this state.”
Yet DWP is not moderating its water diversions—in fact, the agency even broke a promise made by the mayor of Los Angeles rather than reduce water exports.
What happens if DWP doesn’t meet its responsibility? Del Piero put it starkly to the State Water Board members: “Frankly, it makes you guys the policemen.”
And what is the remedy? “You don’t cure the problems that exist within the Mono Basin with paper. The fact of the matter is you fix it with water. You add water to the lake—it’s that simple.”
Del Piero concluded by underscoring the deal that was struck in 1994: LA would get some water, and Mono Lake would be restored to the 6,392-foot Public Trust level as a public resource. “Today you have an unequal equation. [DWP] got the water it was promised. The citizens of the state of California didn’t get what they were promised. It is ultimately your responsibility to try and address that,” he told the Board. Indeed, it is.
This post was also published as an article in the Summer 2026 Mono Lake Newsletter. Top photo by Elin Ljung.