Despite January’s wet weather, Mono Lake’s surface elevation is so low that an intervention is needed. The Mono Lake Committee has asked the State Water Board to suspend stream diversions until the lake rises enough to protect wildlife and the ecosystem, and to quickly schedule a hearing to implement long-term stream diversion changes that will ensure Mono Lake can rise to the healthy, sustainable level mandated by the Board in 1994. Now is an important time to speak up for our beloved Mono Lake! Take action and make your voice heard! Write a letter to the State Water Board. Start here!
Action Alerts
Please attend the Inyo/LA Standing Committee meeting this Thursday, May 12, at 10 a.m., and provide support for Inyo County’s request that LADWP reduce its water extraction from the Owens Valley. Get more details and access the meeting agenda, link and instructions by reading this blogpost.
Comprehensive River Management Plans for the Owens River Headwaters & Cottonwood Creek are long overdue. We are encouraging our members to submit written comments to the Inyo National Forest on the second round of draft plans and the accompanied Environmental Assessments by the April 14 deadline. Our Action Alert provides talking points and instructions. Thanks for your participation!
Please help gather data regarding issues and successes of winter recreation to assist Inyo National Forest staff with Winter Travel Planning. We need your photos and experiences. Use an exciting app called RIMS (Recreation Impact Monitoring System) to make your voice heard about how you would like to see the forest used in winter!
Please attend one or more of these meetings and share your thoughts with Inyo National Forest staff. It is important to engage early and often on this critical piece of travel management, which will inform, well into the coming decades, how the forest is used in the winter.
In their next phase of destructive gold exploration, Canadian company K2 Gold, through its subsidiary Mojave Precious Metals, LLC, is proposing to build 2.6 miles of brand new roads and 1.1 miles of overlanding routes to access 30 different drill sites and drill 120 holes on Conglomerate Mesa. The total impact is estimated to be 12.2 acres, more than 61 times as much as K2 Gold’s previous exploration activities. The Ridgecrest Bureau of Land Management has opened up its 30-day public scoping comment period through August 30th. If you love Conglomerate Mesa and want to protect it, participate now!
Friends of the Inyo was actively involved in the designation of the Owens River Headwaters (ORHW) and Cottonwood Creek as Wild and Scenic Rivers (WSR) in 2009. We worked for years to Congressionally protect these free-flowing rivers and the water they supply to humans and wildlife. The development of river management plans is a fundamental provision of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act; such plans are intended to be completed within three years of designation. Now, after 12 years of inaction, and thanks to litigation, the U.S. Forest Service is finally completing this task. Last year, Resource Assessments were completed for…
Friends of the Inyo was actively involved in the designation of the Owens River Headwaters (ORHW) and Cottonwood Creek as Wild and Scenic Rivers (WSR) in 2009. We worked for years to Congressionally protect these free-flowing rivers and the water they supply to humans and wildlife. The development of river management plans is a fundamental provision of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act; such plans are intended to be completed within three years of designation. Now, after 12 years of inaction, and thanks to litigation, the U.S. Forest Service is finally completing this task. Last year, Resource Assessments were completed for…
Thursday June 24th at 5:00pm Congressman Obernolte will host a telephone town hall to hear directly from you on the issues impacting our community. What can I do? We encourage you to attend and advocate for the protection of Conglomerate Mesa from K2 Gold’s mining activity. To participate in this event, please register at least one hour ahead of time via Rep. Obernolte’s website here. You can also call in at the time of the event at (833) 305-1684.
Speak for the Eastern Sierra – Two Important Meetings May 25 – Comment on approval of the Urban Water Management Plan The LADWP Board of Commissioners meeting plans to address the Urban Water Management Plan. This meeting includes high level decision makers from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and your comments can make a real difference. The Urban Water Management Planning process provides the city an opportunity to apply conservation gains towards reducing the need to import water. Talking points for comments include: The City of LA has made incredible progress in water conservation. It is clearly…