Declining ecological site Mono Lake and dead Owens Lake make comebacks in 2023 due to heavy Sierras snowpack

[Dan Druff]

In 1900, Mono Lake and Owens Lake were two healthy lakes at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California.

Owens Lake was located in the eastern-central part of the state, off of what is now US-395.

Mono Lake was (and still is) located about 30 miles north of the resort town of Mammoth Lakes, next to the tiny town of Lee Vining. Mono Lake sits at the junction of US-395 and State Route 120 which takes you into Yosemite from the east.

In the early 1900s, water was diverted from Owens Lake to feed the growing population of Los Angeles to the south. This caused Owens Lake to dry up in the 1920s, at which point it became a major source of dust, which plagued lots of California. Eventually, $2.5 billion was spent by the state in order to develop countermeasures to prevent the dust from kicking up.

Mono Lake was a different story. It's still a lake, but it has been in slow decline, again due to Los Angeles sucking out its water. However, unlike Owens Lake, which was very ordinary, Mono Lake was a special place. It was full of rich ecology, and a home to brine shrimp, migratory birds, and brine flies. It also has a unique feature called "tufa" which stick up from the water (and on its shore), which appear to be otherworldly. A visit to Mono Lake sometimes feels like you're on a different planet.




The hair band Cinderella filmed the video "Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone" at Mono Lake in 1988. The lake is at a much lower level today, 35 years later. Some felt that the band was making a statement by filming the song at Mono Lake, as it was destined to be "gone" if nothing was done to stop the water removal by Los Angeles.




There is a charitable foundation to advocate for saving Mono Lake and its wildlife. I gave to it once, and now get hassled with donation requests in the mail fairly often. Should've put down a fake address.


In the 2022-23 winter, there was a historic amount of snow in the Sierras, and close to record levels of rain in the rest of California and Nevada. Mammoth Mountain remained open for skiing until August 6.

The question then arose: What will happen to Mono and Owens Lake? Will the spring and summer melt restore them to their former glory?

We now have our answer. Read on...

[Dan Druff]

Owens Lake and Mono Lake are BACK.

Owens is a real lake for the first time since the early 1920s. Mono Lake is not completely back to where they want it, but has risen 5 feet out of the 12 feet short they considered it. So almost half the problem has been knocked out in one year.

The Mono situation is great, though perhaps not for the charity, as people won't be as inclined to give anymore. This is what they've been hoping for, but it was never believed that a heavy snowpack would cure the lake's ills this quickly, as the big snowpacks of years like 2011 didn't do nearly as much.

The comeback of Owens, unfortunately, might be a problem down the road. Remember the $2.5 billion spent on controlling the dry lakebed's dust? Well, the good news is that there will be no dust for as long as this remains a lake.

The bad news is that the lake drying up again -- something which is believed to be inevitable -- might reveal that all of those expensive dust countermeasures were destroyed by all of that water. That will not only mean the money was wasted, but engineers will have to figure out how to redo the work without being vulnerable to the same problem again.

[Dan Druff]

Here is a picture of Owens Lake taken by a family member yesterday. In 2022, it was completely dry.