A close up of yellow wildflowers overlooking the teal waters of Mono Lake on a cloudy day.

Category: Restoration

A person casts from a fly rod into a willow lined creek channel.

New fishing regulations add complexity for Mono Basin

The California Department of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) implemented new freshwater fishing regulations statewide on March 1, 2021. The changes were intended to be simple, but for the Mono Basin, the new regulations create a tangled line of new rules…

Two trail workers converse on a thin dirt trail between sagebrush. Other workers can be see down the trail.

Lee Vining Creek Trail stewardship day

Staff from the Mono Lake Committee, Inyo National Forest, and Mono County teamed up with Mono Lake Volunteers to do trail maintenance work on the Lee Vining Creek Trail. A total of 15 participants spent four hours cutting back encroaching…

The DeChambeau Pond water is filled with golden brown and green grasses and plants, with the snow covered Sierra Nevada mountains behind it.

Pipeline upgrade restores water to DeChambeau Ponds

After months of community collaboration, planning, and work on the ground, water is once again flowing to the DeChambeau Ponds. Long cut off from inflow by broken-down infrastructure, the restoration of flowing water will benefit waterfowl and wildlife in the…

A woman crouches at the gray blue edge of Mono Lake and looks out towards the large black rock outcropping on the opposite shore.

Third-driest water year on record

At the Cain Ranch weather station five miles south of Lee Vining, where precipitation records go back to 1932, the 2020 water year was the third-driest on record. Only 47% of average precipitation, or 4.92 inches, was measured at that…

Green grasses line the still pond water, which reflects the light blue and pastel pink sky.

DeChambeau Pond #2 makes a full recovery

Throughout August, DeChambeau Pond #2 had a low water level, limiting its value to the wildlife that enjoy the US Forest Service (USFS) managed DeChambeau Ponds. On September 1st, USFS staff discovered that an unauthorized adjustment had been made to…