Mono Lake, An Ancient Sea - Part II

'Kiss The Sky'

'Shipwreck In Paradise'

'Mono Lake Sunset'

I wanted to post a few images from my recent photo shoot to Mono Lake and also write some more about this amazing place. I will do that by continuing to quote from the California State Parks brochure that I bought at the South Tufa Area.

To begin with I wanted to mention how grateful I was for the beautiful skies that we enjoyed during our visit. Clouds make such a difference to a landscape photographer in that they provide that additional element to a photograph that adds color, interest and simply makes an image all that more aesthetic. In meteorology, a cloud is a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals made of water or various chemicals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body. The international cloud classification system is based on the fact clouds can show free-convective upward growth like cumulus, appear in non-convective layered sheets such as stratus, or take the form of thin fibrous wisps, as in the case of cirrus.

A major conservation effort to save Mono Lake was waged for many years, and I am sure that at some point somewhere in California you would have seen a ‘Save Mono Lake’ bumper sticker. To quote from the State Parks brochure: “In 1941, the City of Los Angeles began diverting streams that feed Mono Lake. The diversion of those streams caused Mono Lake to drop more than 40 feet, exposing about 17,000 acres of ‘recession’ lands. Recession lands are the exposed lakebed lands below the elevation of 6,417 feet above sea level, where the lake surface was in 1941 before diversions began. Concerns were raised about the lake’s ecosystem, the effects of wind-blown alkali dust on Mono Basin air quality, and the aesthetics of a shrinking lake. Citizens groups – The Mono Lake Committee and the National Audubon Society – began legal efforts to protect Mono Lake.

On September 28, 1994, after 16 years of court battles, research and hearings, the State Water Resources Control Board issued an order to protect Mono Lake and its tributary streams. The effects of the order will ultimately raise the level by 17 feet to an elevation of 6,392 feet above sea level over the next 15-20 years. All parties involved agreed to accept this plan and implement it in a spirit of cooperation.

While the lake may be saved on paper, much remains to be done. Stream and waterfall habitat restoration effort are still underway, with input from the U.S. Forest Service and Reserve staff and the Mono Lake Committee. The question today is not whether Mono Lake will be saved, but how it will be saved.”

We the People, on occasion are still heard and can effect change when we come together for a worthwhile cause!

Enjoy..........