#102 Tuesday’s with David - “Hush”

Mono Lake is an ancient saline Lake located at the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada in California. As a terminal lake, the lack of an outlet causes the lake to become alkaline. This extraordinary lake serves a vibrant community of brine shrimp and migratory birds. Limestone deposits formed at the bottom of the lake are called tufa’s. In 1941, Los Angeles started diverting the water 350 miles to the city. As water levels have become dangerously low over the years, due to diversion and drought, the tufa structures have become more visible. The lake has dropped 45 vertical feet, lost half its volume and doubled its salinity. There is an effort underway to protect and restore this beautiful and unique lake by the Mono Lake Committee (https://www.monolake.org). Raising the lake is critical to saving it, but it’s not happening on schedule. We need to do more.