Written by the Mono Lake Committee

The Mono Lake Committee is a nonprofit citizens¼ group dedicated to protecting and restoring the Mono Basin ecosystem, educating the public about Mono Lake and the environmental impacts of excessive water use, and promoting cooperative solutions that protect Mono Lake and meet real water needs without transferring environmental problems to other areas.

The Mono Lake Committee was formed in 1978 to save Mono Lake from excessive water diversions from its tributary streams to Los Angeles. A series of legal victories led to the landmark 1994 decision by the State Water Resources Control Board to limit diversions to raise Mono Lake over the next 20 to 30 years to a level that protects it and restores natural values.

The decision also ordered the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to prepare plans to restore damaged streams and waterfowl habitat. There is increasing agreement among all parties involved that restoration of Mono Basin habitat should occur through adaptive management, that is, using monitoring data to analyze the success of restoration and modify the restoration prescriptions as conditions warrant. The Mono Lake Committee will remain involved with shaping the decision-making protocol required by this approach to restoration.

The Committee also conducts a range of educational activities in the Mono Basin and in Los Angeles, including weekend workshops and free public tours. The Committee's Outdoor Experiences Program brings inner-city youth from Los Angeles to the Mono Basin to learn about the source of the city's water and to experience ã often for the first time ã the open spaces of the Mono Basin.

The Mono Lake Committee can be contacted at 619/647-6595, emailed at info@monolake.org or visited on the Web at http://www.monolake.org