The Mono Lake Decision articulated six tenets of the public trust in California
ID: 121300 • Letter: T
Question
The Mono Lake Decision articulated six tenets of the public trust in California water law as discussed in the above reference.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=841744
Case application: The Calaveras River
Very low flows (even no flow) are often observed in the Calaveras River above the tidal reach (approximately at the El Dorado St Bridge in Stockton). Fish need water, so the COLD or WARM beneficial uses in the Calaveras River are severely impaired. Flow in the Calaveras is influenced by both appropriative and riparian users.
Based on the history at Mono Lake discuss what actions would be necessary to provide a settlement among all stakeholders.
Explanation / Answer
Mono Lake, occupying the parts of Mono Basin at Mono County, California, an endorheic basin with no outlets. Ecologically, this causes the environment to be hypersaline, and thereby hyperalkaline. Among the 5 major tributaries of the lake, are Rush Creek, Lee Vining Creek, and the Mill Creek which flow through the Lundy Canyon.
This saline lake, unlike other terminal saline lakes, being deeper, relative uniform salinity throughout and large, apart from holding the distinction of being one of the oldest lakes of America, has great scientific significance. The major biota of the lake include species of brine shrimps and alkali flies. This is a principal food source for migratory birds.
The diversions in the tributaries, by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, which started in 1941, and since the loss in 1969 Arizona v/s California Supreme Court ruling over Colarado River, (whereby California lost a huge amount of water allocation to Nevada and Arizona), the amount of water diverted out of the tributaries intensified. By 1979, Mono Basin constituted almost 20% of city of Los Angeles water supply.
The environmental impact of this change was the depletion of the Mono Lake. Noticing the exposure of the breeding grounds to the attack of coyotes, the environmental activists filed suit to stop the DWP diversion and protection of the Mono Lake.
In the landmark judgement in this case, the court judged in favor of the environmentalists, the court adopted broad ranging "affects" test, under which trust doctrine burdens all activities adversely affecting the the state's tust resources. In due course, and several court cases, studies it was finally determined to impose varying flow rates for the tributaries of the Mono Lake, based on restoing the lake level at 6392 feet.
To strike a balance between the conservation of the ecosystem, and the requirements of the needs of the population,the significance of water management has grown from the time of the Mono Lake case, and if the current trends are any indication, will do so in the future as well.
Water being the vied resource for the sustenance of not just the human inhabitors of the region, serves as the source of life sustenance of the brine shrimps, to the dependant migratory bird population.
Actions necessary for settlement should include but not limited to the following: