Mono Basin Ecosystem: Effects of Changing Lake Level

摘要

Mono Basin is a closed hydrologic basin spanning the border between California and Nevada. It includes a delicately balanced ecosystem in which all streams terminate in Mono Lake, a saline lake with a surface area of approximately 69 square miles. Los Angeles, in its ever-expanding search for fresh water, has been diverting streams since 1941 that normally would flow into Mono Lake. It has been predicted that continued diversion will have major ecological consequences for the bird populations and other resources of the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area. The volume provides a case study of an ecological risk assessment that considers the effects of water diversions on an inland saline lake. It examines the hydrology of the Mono Basin, investigates the lake's physical and chemical systems, studies the biological relationships, and predicts the effects of changes in lake levels on the ecosystem.