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Mono Lake Committee celebrates three decades as steward of America's most ancient lake |
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Thursday, 04 September 2008 |
By Catherine Billey
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 The facade of the committee headquarters on U.S. 395. It was once a dance hall for aqueduct workers dating to the 1940s. Today, the copier sits on what was once the stage where musicians played. MAMMOTH TIMES PHOTOS/SUSAN MORNING
Today, the committee, a nonprofit citizens' group dedicated to protecting and restoring the Mono Basin ecosystem, is still humbly headquartered on U.S. 395 in a Lee Vining building with an attractive stucco facade that was once a dance hall for aqueduct workers in the 1940s, the copier sits on what was once the stage where the musicians played, and Sally Gaines, David's widow, is actively involved and on the board of directors.
Over the years, some have questioned the ongoing relevance of the committee since its original perceived purpose – to save Mono Lake from drying up – has been achieved after a long legal struggle. In 1994, the Water Resources Control Board mandated a long-term average water level of 6,392 feet – eight more feet than what the committee originally asked for. The level is currently at 6,384 feet.
“We do get this question, of why the committee is still around,” said executive director Geoffrey McQuilkin in a recent telephone interview. “The answer I give is that the committee was founded by people who love the lake and this place. It was not founded to fight Los Angeles. That was the most important thing to do to protect the lake right away, but that's not the point of the organization.”
The City of Los Angeles is now doing a good job of conservation and reclamation, McQuilkin said – a sentiment echoed by Lou, a ranger who gives talks about the history and ecology of the lake at the nearby Forest Service Visitor Center, which has been open since 1992 and dedicated to David Gaines. “The reality is that the LADWP has become a gracious group of people up and down the Sierra Nevada,” Lou said.
More than half a century ago, it was a very different story.
In 1941, with the extension of the Los Angeles Aqueduct into the Mono Basin, drainage from four streams – Lee Vining, Walker, Parker and Rush Creeks – were diverted to Los Angeles. Mono Lake eventually dropped 45 vertical feet, exposing the tufa towers that grow underwater and destroying fisheries and riparian vegetation. The California Gulls that nested on Negit Island were also threatened because the drop in water level allowed predator coyotes to cross via an exposed land bridge. As well, toxic alkali dust storms arose when exposed salt flats were whipped up by the winds.
Mary Nichols, former Secretary of Resources for the State of California, said at the time of the committee's 25th anniversary, that it is “the only organization that bridges the great divide between the rural areas where water originates and the cities at the end of the pipeline.” Hence, it will always play a critical role in shaping statewide water policy.
A notable example of the committee's proactive work is the Outdoor Experiences Program, an educational endeavor which organizes inner-city youth from Los Angeles and brings them to the source of their water for a powerful hands-on experience. “There are kids who have literally never left the city, who have never seen the snow before, who come up here, and it changes their life,” McQuilkin said. Restoration of nearby streams and the lake is also an ongoing part of the committee's agenda. “We make sure the science can continue,” McQuilkin said. “We run a little field station here in town so we can provide housing and support services for scientists.”
In the past five years, the committee has successfully faced three specific challenges.
Air quality was threatened when the Bush Administration attempted to abandon federal protections at Mono Lake. “If you want to give them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they had not looked at anything in the western United States,” McQuilkin said. “But obviously out west here we have a whole different set of situations, Mono Lake being a prime example.”
The committee filed extensive briefs in opposition to the federal government's proposal to abandon air quality protection there and a letter of concern with the Environmental Protection Agency in April, 2006. By autumn, the committee learned that the EPA had decided to leave the relevant standards at Mono Lake intact.
Then there was a proposal to widen U.S. 395 along the west shore. “We're restoring wetlands and bird habitat along the lakeshore. With that issue, Caltrans came in with a highway widening project, which had started from a pretty good idea of enlarging the shoulders so that bike riders could have more space,” McQuilkin said. But then it turned into a massive project with cut and fill slopes leading down to the future lake line that would not have been appropriate. “We spent a long time discussing how this could be a premier standout highway project, but that just required too much modification of [Caltrans] rules.”
And in a third challenge within the past five years, the owner of a land development project between Tioga Lodge and the Mono Inn (called the Cunningham property) proposed to trade the land to the forest service for compensation. The committee initially supported the proposal until the developer rolled out an idea of subdivision that would include building several large resort style homes. “Not only is that not the right thing for this area,” McQuilkin said, “but it's not compatible with the federal scenic area rules that were passed by the U.S. Congress and that have put some caps around how much development occurs around Mono Lake.”
Though it is not a “no development” rule, he said, there is a lid on how much can be developed. The issue was resolved when Rusty Gregory, CEO of Mammoth Mountain, stepped in and completed purchase of the property in the fall of 2007.
The best way to gain an appreciation of Mono Lake is to get out on its waters, which teem with brine shrimp and alkali flies and yield panoramic views of the towering Sierra Nevada to the west, close-up views of the two volcanic islands, Paoha and Negit, with their scattered ruins of former hot spring spas and Hollywood movie sets, and the scattered tops of tufa towers – composed of crystallized limestone that only grows under water.
Although the committee offers canoe tours, there is also a boat tour operation by Tom Crowe in a rigid hull inflatable, the third boat operation on the lake since 1889. And there for kayakers, Caldera Kayaks operates out of Mammoth Lakes and brings the kayaks to Navy Beach. From the water, methane gas bubbles can be seen. Geologists say these are due to decomposition of the brine shrimp and steam vents near the shores of Paoha Island, which had hot springs and vents in the 1940s until the L.A. water diversions began.
“This lake is so old, it's seen five glacial ice ages,” Crowe explained in a recent boat tour. “And all of these volcanoes are considered dormant but not extinct. Most geologists believe it will erupt again, but probably not today,” he joked. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 12 September 2008 )
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