Los Angeles water supply decision expected to help Mono Lake

Los Angeles city leaders have announced plans to pump limited amounts of water this year from the creek that feeds Mono Lake, a move environmentalists say will help build on last year’s recent rise in Mono Lake levels.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said it plans to export 4,500 acre-feet of water from the Mono Basin during the current runoff year, the same amount it diverted last year and enough to supply about 18,000 homes for a year.

Under current regulations, the city may need more land this year — up to 16,000 acre-feet. But environmentalists recently urged Mayor Karen Bass not to increase water diversions to help maintain recent gains and begin bringing the long-depleted lake to healthier levels. They praised city leaders’ decision as an important step.

“This is a historic decision in the history of Mono Lake,” said Mark Gold, director of water scarcity solutions at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “I think this is the Bass government’s first major environmental achievement on water.”

Positive and impactful reporting on climate change, environment, health and science.

DWP officials detailed in a report how much water they expect to be diverted from the Eastern Sierra region Annual plan The runoff year begins in April.

Environmentalists said it was the first time in 30 years that city officials had announced plans to withdraw less water than the maximum allowed under a 1994 decision by the State Water Resources Control Board. However, the DWP said in the plan that it will review water conditions in November and may still decide at that time to export additional water, up to the 16,000 acre-foot limit, if necessary.

“The Bass government deserves credit for not taking all the water they are entitled to,” Gold said.

“I think this is the ultimate olive branch to the environmental community,” he said, and “a sign of goodwill from the city.”

gold and other advocates sent a letter Not increasing water diversions this year would be a “meaningful action” the city could take after a very wet winter in 2023 and a large supply of water this year, Bass told Bass. snow and rain. They also say doing so would complement efforts to provide long-term solutions for Mono Lake.

City leaders agreed.

“Mayor Bass has made it clear that building a greener Los Angeles is one of her top priorities, and protecting water resources is certainly one of them,” said Nancy Satterley, deputy mayor for energy and sustainability. Sutley) said.

Satterley said in an email that the mayor and DWP “are working together to implement new ways to protect the environment in a sustainable and effective way.”

Since 1941, the city has diverted water from the Mono Basin and sent it south via the Los Angeles Aqueduct.

Over decades, pumping from area creeks has caused the lake’s water to plummet. As the salt lake retreated, the rock formations were called tuffFormed underwater, exposed on the shoreline.

In 1994, the state Water Board issued a ruling requiring the lake level to be raised to 6,392 feet, or about 8 feet above the surface. current level.

The lake’s water level has risen about 5 feet since the start of 2023 as the Sierra Nevada’s historic snowpack delivers large amounts of runoff from the mountains.

Geoffrey McQuilkin, executive director of the Mono Lake Commission, said decisions made by city leaders this year will help sustain those gains.

“If DWP obtains the full 16,000 acre-feet of permitted exports, Mono Lake’s vertical height will be three inches higher,” McQuilkin wrote in a report. Blog article.

He said the move reflects Bass’s “commitment to a sustainable relationship” between the city and Mono Lake and a renewed commitment to meeting lake level goals set by the state Water Authority 30 years ago.

“While Mono Lake is only a fraction of its required health level of 8 feet now, that distance will quickly increase over time,” McQuilkin said.

The goal, he said, is to restore Mono Lake to a level where the ecosystem can thrive.

Mono Lake provides habitat for endangered shorebirds, such as Wilson’s cormorants, which stop in the salt lake to feed on food during their long migrations. Phytophthora and other invertebrates.

McQuilkin said city leaders’ decision “opens the door for us to discuss how to move forward in the next few years and make sure we achieve the Mono Lake protections we all agreed to implement.”

Bruce Reznik, executive director of Los Angeles Water Champions, said the decision represents a significant shift for the city and the water authority.

“In the next few years, I hope to see more of the same thing,” Reznik said. “I want to see the city move forward, even if we don’t have that wet year, to do everything it can to reduce the damage to Mono Lake. Let it heal inch by inch.

Reznick says California has opportunity now Restore one of its ecological treasures It also reduces Los Angeles’ dependence on imported water from hundreds of miles away.

“We have to be more aware of local resilient water supplies, which makes our water safer,” he said. “Let’s seize this win and see if we can build on it to deliver more resilient water to local areas.”

Conservation efforts in recent years have helped reduce Los Angeles’ overall water use. Reznik said the transition to more local water supplies could be accelerated by investing in capturing more rainwater, cleaning up contaminated groundwater and recycling wastewater.

“The more we embrace the idea that we can’t keep bringing water from everywhere and that we need to invest locally, I think the more we’ll see all the benefits,” he said.