DWP abandons LA’s commitment to Mono Lake
2024 was once full of celebration that the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) had committed to a new collaborative approach to restoring Mono Lake. But the optimism abruptly ended in November, when DWP quietly reversed its plan and began maximi
Back in the spring, Los Angeles leadership responded positively to a call from a large coalition led by the Mono Lake Committee. The coalition asked Mayor Karen Bass to consider the low level of Mono Lake and voluntarily not increase water diversions in order to preserve recent gains and make progress toward the state-mandated, healthy 6,392-foot lake level requirement. The LA Times reported the decision as an environmental win in June, quoting Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley saying, “Mayor Bass has been clear that building a greener Los Angeles is one of her top priorities and protecting water resources certainly falls into that.”
The group asking for action with the Committee included leaders like Mark Gold and Ed Begley, Jr., community groups like Communities for a Better Environment, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, and Pacoima Beautiful, alongside groups like the Sierra Club, Los Angeles Waterkeeper, and LA Audubon. Gold called the commitment “the first major environmental accomplishment for water in the Bass administration.”
Disappointment in DWP’s abandonment of the commitment runs far and wide, from Los Angeles community groups to resource agencies to the State Water Board. EPA Regional Administrator Martha Guzman, in a December large group call, called DWP’s action “surprising and discouraging.”
After DWP abandoned the 4,500 acre-foot commitment, Melanie Paola Torres, representing LA community environmental justice organization Pacoima Beautiful, spoke at the DWP Board of Commissioners public meeting, saying: “These diversions jeopardize the recovery of the lake, harm its ecosystem and worsen air quality in the surrounding region. Mono Lake is more than just a body of water. It is a living classroom and a source of inspiration. When our community visits, they see what’s at stake, they return home with a deeper understanding of environmental justice and the urgency to care for our shared resources. But if LADWP continues taking water, the lake’s recovery will stall and we risk losing this vital place forever.”
Important questions about the surprise DWP action remain unanswered. Was this DWP’s plan all along? What does Mayor Bass make of her commitment being abandoned?
The Mono water is just 1–3% of the city’s annual supply, and yet is the only water available to help Mono Lake recover from decades of excessive water diversions. The lake today is a decade late, and nine feet short of achieving the State Water Board’s mandated healthy management level.