Lee Wenning, California – On a trail surrounded by sage, naturalists welcome a group of visitors to the next mono lake with the words “Oasis in the Desert.”
Guide Ryan Garrett, who showed up on his face, greeted a group of vacationers and begged them to see the value in the lagoon – it carries migrating birds, is about a million years old and is affected by more than 300 miles of water use in Southern California.
In the early 20th century, a huge aqueduct was built in Los Angeles, fetching water from the Owens Valley and quickly drying out Owens Lake. Leaders in Los Angeles reached for more water, started to get further away, and began digging water from the mountain streams that feed Single Lake.
Visitors showed how to form a TUFA tower by mixing calcium and carbonate solutions during Mono Lake tour.
“Are they still drinking water?” asked a woman.
“Yes, they’re still transferring the water,” Garrett replied.
As they continued, Garrett explained how the mono fell rapidly from the 1940s to the 1980s. They used explanatory signs to show how much the water level had dropped: by 7 feet in 1951, and by 25 feet in 1963.
By 1982, the lake was 45 feet away from the natural level locals.
The lake was hungry, and the lake lost about half of its volume, twice as much as salty.
As they headed to the shore, the group was attracted by the famous rugged craggy layers on the lake Graphics Nearly 20 feet above them. Garrett pauses to describe how the calcium carbonate tower has grown under the water around freshwater springs for thousands of years, then exposed as the water falls.
“If we were here in 1941, we would be underwater,” he said.
this Free touroffered twice a day in summer, bringing visitors to the Nantufa Trail located in the Single Basin National Forest Scenic Area.
Some travel leaders work in state parks. Others are guides from the Mono Lake Committee, the nonprofit organization. Garrett is the board’s director of education.
On the shore, he crouched down and dipped a transparent cup into salt water.
There are estimated to be 4 to 6 trillion salt shrimp in Single Lake.
“I got one!” he said, passing by the cup, a tiny salted shrimp was swimming.
There is no other place in the world in this species. The lake is full of trillions of dollars.
He reached into the water and showed his open palm. It is covered with dark spots. They are alkaline flies and are traditional food sources for local kootzaduka’a people. He urged everyone to taste one.
“It tastes salty,” said a man’s conspiracy.
California seagulls exposed their mouths along a mountain lake along a patch of alkaline fly.
These flies and saltwater shrimp are essential foods for migratory birds, including Grebs of ears, Wilson’s side dishes and California seagulls. They need lake health, not too salty.
The threatening health of the lake became a cry of rally in the 1980s, when the “Save Mono” bumper was stuck on a California car. In 1994, the state regulator ordered the Los Angeles Department of Water and Electricity to take steps to increase the lake by taking less water from the creek, thus allowing more water to flow into the lake.
Still, Garrett said: “Single Lake is not at a level of health management.”
He opened his backpack and pulled out a foldable metal pole that stretched 9 feet.
He stood vertically on the beach, indicating that the lake is still far below the target level agreed 31 years ago.
“Then, the problem now becomes, is Shanhu destined to fail?” he said. “Is this the highest? No, absolutely not.”
Garrett noted that over the past three decades, conservation efforts in Los Angeles have greatly reduced water use.
Visitors along the Mono Lake South Tufa area along the shore were once covered by water and the tallest Tufa tower.
The 1994 decision included a back row: If the lake level is insufficient, the state water control board will hold a hearing to determine whether the rules need to be changed – both environmental advocates and DWP managers have expressed hope that it will happen soon.
“What’s super exciting is that the hearing is approaching,” Garrett said. “So now is the best time to learn about Mono Lake, as the next big effort to save Mono Lake is about to begin.”
At the end of the tour, Jerardo Reyes, a roofing contractor from Rialto, said he didn’t know Mono Lake and wanted to learn more about where Southern California gets water.
He and his wife Jeannette stopped and watched the lake with their four children.
Reyes said he thinks that while Los Angeles needs water, the lake needs it, too, “you have to find a balance.”
“It’s a beautiful lake,” Reyes said. “I hope this lake is here for my kids to see and my grandchildren will see in the future.”
