Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Getting the word out about water conservation outdoors

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Lawns are one of the greatest water wasters to invade the arid Southwest and the semi-arid coastal plain of Southern California. If you’ve visited the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore in Lee Vining and used our public bathroom, you may have seen this poster, which says it well:


Unfortunately, the wisdom of protecting our shared heritage of public lakes and rivers by conserving landscape-irrigation water hasn’t reached a handful of people:

A photo from a Mono Lake friend who spotted it in Los Angeles. If the driver of this car drains Mono Lake to water their lawn with Mono Lake water, both Mono Lake and their lawn will die (assuming their lawn is big enough to handle 2.5 million acre-feet of water, algae, and brine shrimp). Mono Lake is nearly three times as salty as the Pacific Ocean, and with a pH of 10 (similar to soap) it would be of no use to their lawn.
A photo from a Mono Lake friend who spotted this bumper sticker in Los Angeles. If the driver of this car drains Mono Lake to water their lawn with Mono Lake water, then one of the oldest lakes in North America and their lawn would both die (assuming their lawn is big enough to handle 2.5 million acre-feet of salt water, algae, and brine shrimp). Mono Lake is nearly three times as salty as the Pacific Ocean, and with a pH of 10 (similar to soap) it would be of no use to their lawn.

Alternatives to using large amounts of imported and expensively-treated drinking water to water lawns include using greywater, reclaimed water, rainwater, reducing the area of turf, changing the type of grass, and planting drought-tolerant native plants. If you want to convert your lawn to something more environmentally-friendly, you can find resources here. Also, another great resource just came out this month—the California Native Plant Society‘s current magazine issue is focused on native plant gardens. Every drop of water you conserve by saving water on landscaping is a drop of water that does not need to be diverted from special, struggling places like the Mono Basin. And if you want to put a bumper sticker on your car—stop by our bookstore for free “I love Mono Lake” or “Long Live Mono Lake” stickers!

3 Comments

  1. An interesting exercise in political correctness, the smearing of the license plate. Why, one might ask? They don’t mind displaying their viewpoint in public back home. Why, if they’re so proud, not give them a wider audience. By the way, as I see people in SoCal pour expensive water on their lawns, so many of them transplanted easterners, I sometimes ask about it. The responses are all about “I’ve got mine” and frequently mixed with expressions of resentment about what a “rip off” water rates are. Unfortunately the SoCal culture of expectation of limitless nearly free water lives on, courtesy of years of propaganda by the LA Chamber of Commerce.
    Many of the people I know who thusly squander water on lawns are also educated people who profess “awareness” and “concern for the environment”. What’s to be done? I suppose patience, continuing the message, and hoping to change one mind at a time.

  3. Drain Mono Lake…. and…. then what? No more water for lawns or anything else. Planning ahead, anyone?