Southern California's increasing demand for water has long wreaked havoc on the regions from where that water flows. As conservation progresses, though, there is still a long way to go.
What's happening?
Joint projects by Inyo County and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power have helped partially restore the barren Owens Valley, but "if these efforts are to survive in the long term, Southern California needs to rethink its water sourcing," as the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club reported in March.
The LADWP has been diverting water from Mono Lake tributaries since 1941, after extending the Los Angeles Aqueduct. The original channel was completed in 1913 to feed the growing metropolis from Owens Lake, but it sucked that water dry in less than a decade.
Mono Lake is "the most protected salt lake in the American West," according to NBC News, which reported on the lakes last June. That's because citizens banded together to prevent what happened to Owens Lake.
The Mono Lake Committee, founded in the 1970s, won a legal victory in 1983 to keep the LADWP from draining the reservoir. The lake has never dipped below its 1982 nadir of 6,372 feet (a drop of 45 feet from its 1941 level), though it has dropped to dangerous levels a few times since, including twice in the last decade.
But last year, after a record snowpack produced a "big melt," both bodies of water surged. The long dried-up Owens Lake re-emerged, while Mono Lake hit 6,383 feet by the end of the year, a level it hadn't reached in years.
Why is this important?
Mono Lake was once home to a thriving nesting California gull population, but it doubled in salinity in the decades after the aqueduct expansion, and the lakebed is now a source of toxic dust storms, just like Owens Lake about 115 miles away. The latter, once a wetland habitat, was "ecologically devastated," according to the Sierra Club.
The county and LADWP have worked to rewater the valley, conserving native plants, which have, in turn, drawn in shorebirds.
Water scarcity is a common issue in western states, as the Colorado River system is responsible for supporting so much agriculture that it no longer reaches the sea. This threatens 40 million people in the Southwest, including Angelenos, who rely on the water and dams at Lake Powell and Lake Mead for electricity.
So, despite Mono Lake's rise, it's still in danger. And on the flip side, projects to stem the rise of dust from Owens Lake may be in danger from the influx of water.
"It's sort of counterintuitive," Inyo County water director Holly Alpert said, per NBC. "We think 'more water, less dust impacts.' But as it recedes and dries again, it could lead to more dust."
Mono Lake Committee executive director Geoff McQuilkin told the outlet: "We're pretty worried about the condition of the lake. This past winter, like at the Great Salt Lake, is giving us a reprieve — a little extra time to figure things out."
What's being done about this?
The Sierra Club says Southern California needs to "rely less on imported water to quench its thirst, and emphasis ought to be placed on water conservation and reuse, rather than water from other regions at the expense of their ecosystem health."
It's a good rule of thumb. As rising temperatures around the world push water scarcity higher up the list of concerns, we can all work to reduce our consumption and find inventive ways to use what we have.
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