Mono Lake is over a million years old. Located in California, east of Yosemite National Park, the lake covers more than 60 square miles. It is highly salinized and marked by unusual limestone formations known as tufa spires. The lake is home to trillions of brine shrimp and millions of birds.
In the 1970s, scientists and concerned citizens formed the Mono Lake Committee. They warned that the lake was in danger of becoming a sterile swamp. Tributary streams that fed the lake were being diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which was then used to supply the City of Los Angeles and outlying agricultural areas with water.
Water levels in the lake fell by nearly 50 feet. Lake waters doubled in salinity and the shoreline was choked with alkali dust. The brine shrimp population dropped and the gull chicks that depended on the brine shrimp for food suffered mass die-offs.
Learn more in the Brock Evans papers at UW’s American Heritage Center