Lake's water level threatens LA water supply
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Social
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
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.
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.
Source: LA Times
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