\u201cThe way the exports are regulated, meeting lake level objectives is unlikely,\u201d Alex Hall, a UCLA climate scientist, told members of the California State Water Resources Control Board at a meeting Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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A canoe tour stops near a tufa to learn about Mono Lake\u2019s biodiversity and ecosystem on Aug. 2, 2025.<\/p>\n
(Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
While his UCLA team estimated that climate change has also played a role, keeping Mono Lake about 2.6 feet lower than it would otherwise be, the researchers concluded that halting L.A.\u2019s water exports would roughly double the likelihood of the lake reaching its target level within the next 20 years.<\/p>\n
In a 1994 decision, state water regulators required the L.A. Department of Water and Power to limit diversions and take steps to raise the lake level 17 feet. Mono Lake is now higher than it was then, but is still about 9 feet below the required level. <\/p>\n
DWP managers said they have questions and want to vet the UCLA analysis.<\/p>\n
Eric Tillemans, DWP\u2019s interim aqueduct manager, told the state board that the city\u2019s studies have found Mono Lake\u2019s levels are \u201cmore dependent on precipitation, evaporation and runoff than any other factors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s highly technical and a scientifically novel modeling effort, but it wasn\u2019t developed through a facilitated process or expert peer-reviewed,\u201d Tillemans said, adding that it \u201crequires additional time to complete a thorough review.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anselmo Collins, DWP\u2019s chief operating officer and senior assistant general manager, said<\/a> the analysis by UCLA researchers should be thoroughly vetted before state officials consider whether it should be used to guide policy decisions.<\/p>\n In 1994, the State Water Resources Control Board set a target level of 6,392 feet above sea level for Mono Lake. The level is still about 9 feet below that.<\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n In recent years, L.A. has gotten about 2% of its water from the Eastern Sierra creeks in the Mono Basin. Environmental advocates have called for the city to take less water to help the lake reach a healthy level<\/a> and support an ecosystem that is vital for migratory birds.<\/p>\n Richard Katz, former president<\/a> of the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners, proposed in a letter<\/a> to the state board that DWP should pause its use of water from the Mono Basin. He wrote that doing this would be the \u201cfastest and most cost-effective way\u201d to raise the lake level.<\/p>\n Katz also said a recent city decision to double the size<\/a> of a water-recycling project provides a \u201cunique opportunity\u201d to increase local water while also letting Mono Lake recover.<\/p>\n Others who spoke at Tuesday\u2019s meeting<\/a> in Sacramento called for the state water board to intervene and require L.A. to take less water to enable the lake to rise, or to stop taking water altogether.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been far too long that this has been allowed to happen,\u201d said Noah Williams, a member of the Bishop Paiute Tribe, adding that the focus should be on \u201creally addressing the issue of raising the lake elevation.\u201d<\/p>\n Former L.A. City Councilmember Ruth Galanter, who helped broker an agreement that laid the groundwork for the 1994 decision, urged the state board to insist that DWP fulfill its commitment.<\/p>\n \u201cThis kind of delay is what gives regulation a bad name, and it makes people lose faith in the notion that the government is here to serve you,\u201d Galanter said. \u201cSo it\u2019s not just Mono Lake that\u2019s at stake here. It\u2019s the credibility of our legal system and our regulatory system.\u201c<\/p>\n Geoffrey McQuilkin, executive director of the nonprofit Mono Lake Committee, urged the state water board to act, saying in three decades DWP \u201chas shown that it will not restore this national treasure voluntarily.\u201d He agreed with Katz that the city should pause its use of water from the area until Mono Lake can rise.<\/p>\n Geoffrey McQuilkin, executive director of the Mono Lake Committee, peers through binoculars at Mono Lake\u2019s South Tufa on Aug. 1, 2025.<\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Janisse Qui\u00f1ones, DWP\u2019s departing top executive<\/a>, disagreed. She told the state water board in a March 13 letter<\/a> that Los Angeles has reduced its use of water from the Mono Basin since 1994, but that further reducing the amount is not likely to significantly hasten the lake\u2019s rise.<\/p>\n Qui\u00f1ones also said the protections the state water board put in place, as well as additional steps by DWP, \u201chave been a success.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMono Lake stands in stark contrast to all other saline lakes in the West \u2014 including the Salton Sea and the Great Salt Lake \u2014 that are declining in elevation and facing significant environmental issues,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n Qui\u00f1ones told the board that reducing or halting the city\u2019s use of water from the Mono Basin would be \u201cunwarranted, imprudent, and place undue financial burden on LADWP\u2019s ratepayers.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear when the state water board might convene another meeting on the matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than three decades after a landmark decision called for Los Angeles to limit its taking of water…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":671445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2451,283394,283399,10713,6276,2961,283397,34011,224,2444,5337,283398,283395,78700,283396,123820,20175,527],"class_list":["post-671444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-city","tag-dwp-manager","tag-eric-tillemans","tag-foot","tag-l-a","tag-la","tag-lake-level-objective","tag-level","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-losangeles","tag-meeting-tuesday","tag-mono-basin","tag-mono-lake","tag-richard-katz","tag-state-board","tag-use","tag-water"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116267094470472800","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Mono](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774094954_461_.jpeg\")
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