This post was written by Morgan, 2012 Policy Coordinator.
The California Department of Transportation has released plans for a highway project next to Mono Lake. The project will address rock fall issues for six slopes just north of Lee Vining on the west side of Highway 395. Careful readers of the Mono Lake Newsletter may be familiar with this new CalTrans rock fall project. You can read the complete back story on page 10 in the Summer 2012 Newsletter.
The Mono Lake Committee has been visiting the site with CalTrans staff regularly over the past nine months to gain an understanding of the engineering options and constraints and to share thoughts on how the project can best protect the lake. CalTrans has also reached out to the local community and affected agencies including the National Forest Service and California State Parks.
Committee staff, experts, and legal counsel are currently hard at work reviewing the plans and preparing the Mono Lake Committee’s analysis.
Stay tuned to the Mono-logue; we’ll be posting more detailed information at the end of the week, including key points to consider including in your own comments on the project. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
The Draft Initial Study with Proposed Negative Declaration/Environmental Assessment and the associated technical documents are now available on CalTrans website.