Mono lake's ecological crisis is a blow to wildlife, l. A. Water supply

Latimes

Mono lake's ecological crisis is a blow to wildlife, l. A. Water supply"


Play all audios:

Loading...

Reporting from MONO LAKE, Calif. — As this drought-stricken body of salt water recedes, the repercussions mount: Its exposed alkaline flats are giving rise to dust storms. A haven for


endangered migrating birds has become more vulnerable to predators. And Los Angeles’ ability to divert snowmelt from the region — which it has done for seven decades — could be cut off. In


recent months, the Department of Water and Power has reduced its take from Mono’s tributaries by more than two-thirds. Still, the 1-million-year-old lake is within two feet of the level that


state officials say threatens the alpine ecosystem at the base of the eastern Sierra Nevada. ------------ FOR THE RECORD: Mono Lake: In the June 25 Section A, a graphic with an article on


the effects of the drought on Mono Lake showed the scale as water level in feet. The scale should be water level in feet of elevation. ------------ Unless the region gets a significant


amount of rain by the next official water level reading in April, Mono may fall to 6,377 feet in elevation, triggering a halt to any diversions. The California State Water Resources Control


Board established the limit in 1994 to resolve a dispute between environmentalists and the city 350 miles south. Of particular concern is further exposure of a land bridge that coyotes could


cross to access the second-largest California gull colony in the state. That passageway to Negit Island and nearby islets is surfacing, leaving the eggs and chicks vulnerable. “I’ll be


terrified if the lake level drops another few feet,” said Kristie Nelson, a biologist who has been conducting research on Mono Lake’s gull population since 2004. “In years past, coyotes have


been known to swim across 200 yards of water to get to the gull eggs.” Famous for its towering, craggy tufa formations, the high desert lake east of Yosemite National Park is the remnant of


a vast inland sea, where fresh alpine runoff cascading from Sierra slopes combines with salty water that is home to brine shrimp. The controversy over the city’s diversions of water from


Mono’s feeder streams is one of California’s longest-running environmental battles. In April, the DWP reduced its annual water exports from 16,000 acre-feet to 4,500 acre-feet, when gauges


recorded the surface level at 6,379 feet in elevation. An acre-foot of water is enough to supply two households for a year. In a separate effort to conserve meager eastern Sierra snow


runoff, the DWP dammed the Los Angeles Aqueduct this year. That closure will remain in place until November so the DWP can fulfill obligations such as dust mitigation on Owens Lake, which


dried up after the city water agency opened the aqueduct in 1913. Usually, the aqueduct supplies Los Angeles with a third of its water. “If the lake level falls more than two more feet,


we’ll be in the hands of the weather gods,” said Geoffrey McQuilkin, executive director of the Mono Lake Committee, a nonprofit group focused on protecting the ecosystem. “There’s no


contingency plan on the shelf for record drought.” The committee has started weighing emergency proposals, including construction of chain-link or electric fences between the mainland and


offshore nesting sites. Video cameras were recently installed “to see if coyotes are testing the boundaries,” McQuilkin said. In the meantime, the shoreline is steadily falling back,


creating a “bathtub ring” of dusty lake bottom. Warmer temperatures, increased turbidity and reduced flows in the tributaries — Lee Vining Creek, Walker Creek, Parker Creek and Rush Creek —


threaten trout populations and riparian vegetation that is home to migrating birds such as yellow warblers and lazuli buntings. With evaporation outpacing inflows from those streams, a sheet


of water less than 4 feet deep and few hundred yards wide is all that protects tens of thousands of breeding gulls from predatory coyotes. The situation is reminiscent of 1978, when, due to


unrestricted city diversions, the lake level had dropped so low that the land bridge to Negit Island was fully exposed. The California National Guard, with the support of the Audubon


Society, tried to blow it up with dynamite, but the muck exploded sky high and then simply fell back into place. A year later, a chain-link fence was installed on the island. But as the


water evaporated, coyotes padded around the ends of the fence and devoured nestlings. In an escalation of firepower, the U.S. Forest Service in 1990 strung 1,100 yards of low-voltage wire


across a portion of Mono’s north shore, in hopes a jolt on the snout would discourage coyotes from crossing shallow water to raid the rookery. The electronic barrier didn’t work, Nelson


said, “because the system rapidly degraded in the corrosive alkaline foam and water blowing off the lake.” Standing beside a water level gauge separated from the lake by a hundred of yards


of dry land, Nelson said: “We have to take a hard look at all options. These birds are in serious danger.” Los Angeles has diverted a total of 4.28 million acre-feet of water from the Mono


Basin since 1941. Formal protests began with a lawsuit that residents and environmental groups filed in Mono County Superior Court in 1979 against the DWP. The suit alleged violations of


public trust and the creation of a public and private nuisance by exposing 14,700 acres of former lake bed. In 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling that environmentalists had the


right to challenge the amount of water Los Angeles was exporting from the tributaries. A decade later, the state water board ordered minimum flows restored for the diverted streams and set


the minimum water level for Mono Lake. So far, the 6,377 mark has never been reached. Now “after two decades of protections,” McQuilkin said, “we’re facing some of the same issues we were


concerned about in the 1970s.” “Only this time,” he added, “it’s not Los Angeles’ fault.” [email protected] Twitter: @LouisSahagun MORE TO READ


Trending News

Man pleads guilty to sex assaults of 4 in ojai : courts: kevin richard malone, 37, faces a state prison term of 27 to 84 2/3 years for the string of i

Averting an emotional trial on charges that he attacked a string of Ojai women, a 37-year-old twice-convicted prowler pl...

Statistical press notice: mixed-sex accommodation breach data, march 2012

Press release STATISTICAL PRESS NOTICE: MIXED-SEX ACCOMMODATION BREACH DATA, MARCH 2012 Main Points This notice presents...

Lipidomics refines cvd risk prediction

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe The addition of a small set of plasma lipid species to traditional risk...

Pm modi urges people to vote after filing nomination from varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Varanasi to file his nomination, gave a statement to media, urging people to come out a...

The uk and us sanction houthi enablers

Press release THE UK AND US SANCTION HOUTHI ENABLERS * English * العربيَّة A UK sanctions package, coordinated with the ...

Latests News

Mono lake's ecological crisis is a blow to wildlife, l. A. Water supply

Reporting from MONO LAKE, Calif. — As this drought-stricken body of salt water recedes, the repercussions mount: Its exp...

Peter walton was derided as 'an absolute bluffer'

Peter Walton has emerged as a key figure within the world of football punditry and analysis. For BT Sport, he has offere...

Uk-bahrain joint working group

Press release UK-BAHRAIN JOINT WORKING GROUP * English * العربيَّة Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood met H.E Abdull...

Chelsea and man utd given £80m transfer reference by sterling claim

"There is speculation about players going but the main focus at the moment is your country, trying to win this tour...

Jaime King Reaches 'Loving and Harmonious' Agreement in 3.5-Year Divorce from Kyle Newman

Jaime King Reaches 'Loving and Harmonious' Agreement in 3.5-Year Divorce from Kyle Newman "The health and well-being of ...

Top