In 1974, David Gaines became acquainted with Mono Lake during an inventory of the natural areas of Mono County. In 1976 he helped to form the Mono Basin Research Group with undergraduates from Stanford, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and Earlham College, which received grant funding from the National Science Foundation. The Mono Basin Research Group conducted the first comprehensive ecological study of Mono Lake, An Ecological Study of Mono Lake, California, which was published in June 1977 by the UC Davis Institute of Ecology.

This report drew attention to the potentially catastrophic ecological impacts of Mono Lake's falling level due to water diversions from its tributary streams by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). These diversions began in 1941 and caused the lake to lose half of its volume, thus doubling its salinity. They also caused Negit Island, an important rookery for California gulls, to become connected to the mainland, allowing predators access to nesting birds. After editing the Ecological Study, Mono Basin Research Group member David Winkler walked across the newly exposed land bridge to Negit Island in November 1977 and felt compelled to do something before the next gull breeding season. He enlisted the help of David Gaines to form an organization whose sole purpose was to save Mono Lake and its inhabitants.

Winkler and Gaines approached the Sierra Club's Mono Lake Task Force, Friends of the Earth, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. All were willing to provide support, but none were willing to lead the effort to save Mono Lake. Gaines then appealed to the Audubon Society's Santa Monica chapter, and in March 1978 he formed the Mono Lake Committee (MLC) as a project of the Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society(SMBAS). The MLC collected donations through the SMBAS while it went through the process of incorporation.

Winkler chose to pursue a doctorate degree, which left Gaines and fellow Mono Basin Research Group member Sally Judy in charge of the MLC. Gaines created publicity for MLC's efforts by traveling around the state showing a Mono Lake slide show to schools, conservation groups, legislators, and anyone else who would listen. The newly-formed Mono Lake Committee decided to focus on three areas of action: legal, legislative, and educational. In 1980, the MLC acquired a building on Highway 395 in Lee Vining for their headquarters. The Mono Lake Information Center opened at this location on Memorial Day weekend, 1980. In order to attract more visitors, the Information Center also functioned as the Lee Vining Chamber of Commerce.

In 1982 the MLC hired its first full-time executive director, Ed Grosswiler, a former congressional aide and Associated Press reporter. Grosswiler worked out of Committee's Los Angeles office, a practice maintained by successive executive directors. In 1984, Martha Davis became the next executive director, a position she held until 1996. In 1988, David Gaines, generally acknowledged as the founder of the Mono Lake Committee, died in an automobile accident with fellow MLC member Dan Oberlin near Mono Lake.

Legislation

As a result of the lobbying efforts of the MLC and others, the Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve was created in 1981, followed in 1984 by the creation of the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area. These two designations brought resources, facilities, and attention to the Mono Basin. Both the State Reserve and the Scenic Area offer educational programs and visitor services in the area, and both became involved as friends of the court in litigation to protect Mono Lake. Also as a result of efforts by the MLC, Mono Lake received international acknowledgement as a site in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.

Litigation

In 1979, the MLC and the NAS argued in the Mono County Superior Court that water diversions to Los Angeles did not comply with the public trust doctrine. This legal doctrine, which came to California law from ancient Roman codes, states that the government has the duty to protect navigable bodies of water for the use and benefit of all the people. In a 1983 precedent-setting decision, the California Supreme Court agreed with the MLC, ruling that the state has an obligation to protect places such as Mono Lake, "as far as feasible," even if this means a reconsideration of past water allocation decisions.

In 1984, California Trout, MLC, and NAS brought suit against the City of Los Angeles charging that their water diversions did not comply with California Fish and Game codes. These codes require that enough water always be allowed to flow below a dam to keep fisheries in good condition. Eventually, the Public Trust suit and the Fish and Game suits were combined into one proceeding before the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), the agency that allocates water in California.

In 1994 the SWRCB issued Decision 1631, which set minimum flows for the streams, set limits on water exports based on the level of Mono Lake (designed to raise and stabilize the lake at a level 20 feet above its lowest level), and ordered LADWP to restore the streams and waterfowl habitat.

Water Replacement Supplies

The MLC realized that the protection of Mono Lake required securing adequate, environmentally sound replacement water supplies for Los Angeles. Its goal was to help the city meet its real water needs without increasing pressure on other sensitive resources such as the Bay-Delta and Colorado River. The Committee lobbied throughout the 1980s for both state and federal legislation that would create funding to help Los Angeles develop water recycling facilities and pay for water conservation programs. Conservation and recycling in Los Angeles helped the city become more drought-tolerant, reduced the amount of pollution created by wastewater, and annually created more water than was ever diverted from the Mono Basin. Two legislative bills, AB444 and HR429, were passed to help fund such projects.

The MLC has been involved in creating and maintaining several water conservation and water recycling policies and programs in Los Angeles and throughout California. The Committee secured funding and support for water conservation and recycling projects in Southern California, was one of the negotiators of the state's Best Management Practices Agreement, and served on the steering committee for the California Urban Water Conservation Council.

NOTE: Information adapted from Storm Over Mono: The Mono Lake Battle and the California Water Future by John Hart, (1996) and the Mono Lake Committee's website, http://www.monolake.org/