Mono Lake

Mono Lake is estimated to be over a million years old. Covering about 60 square miles in Mono Basin, it collects water and minerals from eastern Sierra streams but has no outlet. Water can leave Mono Lake only through evaporation, leaving salts and minerals behind.

In 1941, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began diverting Mono Lake's tributary streams 350 miles south to meet the growing water demands of Los Angeles. Deprived of its freshwater sources, the volume of Mono Lake was cut in half, while its salinity doubled. Unable to adapt to these changing conditions within such a short period of time, the ecosystem began to collapse.

The Mono Lake Committee, formed in 1978, has undertaken legal action to protect the lake. In 1994, the California Water Resources Control Board issued an order to protect the lake and its tributary streams, and as a result, over the next 15-20 years the natural flow of water from those streams is expected to raise the water level by 17 feet.

There is an explanation of Mono Lake's famous "tufa towers" and more pictures of these strange limestone formations on the second page of this collection.

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