During the 2021 runoff year (April 1, 2021–March 31, 2022), the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) was allowed to export up to 16,000 acre-feet of stream diversions from the Mono Basin because Mono Lake was above 6380…
Each autumn Mono Lake Committee staff optimistically hope for a wet and snowy winter, but cautiously prepare for drought. Last fall, drought contingency planning included the possibility of re-deploying the mile-long temporary electrified fence to protect California Gulls; no small…
The Mono Lake Kutzadika’a Tribe is currently working on a number of projects aimed at reviving the uses of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of the Indigenous peoples of the Mono Basin. These efforts confront the dispossession of Indigenous peoples from…
Last summer, longtime Mono Lake Committee members donated a home and surrounding land to bolster the Committee’s scientific research and education programs. Located northeast of Mono Lake, the house and 320-acre property are perfectly positioned to serve as a home…
Winter in the Mono Basin has more dark hours than light, chillingly cold air, and a silence so profound it feels physical. It is either a time of rest, of moving slowly, of torpor to reduce the toll simply existing…
Each spring tens of thousands of California Gulls migrate inland to their nesting grounds on Mono Lake’s islets. Because of the lake’s current low level, the landbridge to the islets is once again becoming exposed, which increases the threat of…
Last fall the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District hosted a Mono Air & Water Workshop in Lee Vining. The purpose of the workshop was to initiate a dialogue among stakeholders, agencies, and the Great Basin governing board to…
DWP captures more than streams in the Mono Basin Heading south from Mono Lake, drivers on Highway 395 zoom past a road junction marked with a sign for a mysterious “West Portal.” Portal to what? Is there a matching one…
Here at the Mono Lake Committee, we very much enjoy knowing detailed bits of obscure Mono Basin knowledge. Often these pieces of information are important, but they aren’t always particularly interesting, especially on their own. Some examples: In April 1983,…
Mono Lake Committee and partners start implementing State Water Board Order 21-86 This winter Mono Lake Committee staff were even busier than usual, working to set Order 21-86 into motion to initiate an exciting new phase of restoration for Mono…
