There is a sign in the middle of a grassy field at Mono Lake that says when the water reaches that spot, Mono Lake will be restored. That sign is a long ways from the water. It's hard to believe that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power caused such destruction in the middle of nowhere but it did. It stole the water from Mono Lake in 1941, and 30 years later LADWP swiped some more.
The lake used to take up more than 4 acres of land. Today, it is less than 2 acres. It's about 9 miles around the lake. By diverting streams that fed Mono Lake, the LAWPD drained the lake by half. This body of water is home to almost 88% of the gull population in North America. Hundreds of birds make their home at Mono Lake. Draining the lake caused devastation and threatened this habitat, it collapsed a fragile ecosystem.
After years of fighting over the water rights to Mono Lake, the good guys finally won. But the water is not yet restored. It will take years to restore Mono Lake, and the fighting will probably continue.
There are consequences to bad decisions. A Sacramento home buyer almost made a bad decision yesterday, but fortunately came to her senses before she involved a lot of other people in her plans. Read more about how Sacramento Home Buyers Can Learn a Lesson From Mono Lake.
Photo: Mono Lake by Elizabeth Weintraub
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