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Get Involved!
Outings/Events
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Wednesday, May 19 at 6:30
Gold Mine to Gold Mine
Eastern Sierra Bike Tour Presentation
Mammoth Brewing Company/Eatery
Emily and Amber will share their adventures riding from the Bodie Hills to Hot Creek to Conglomerate Mesa to highlight the gold mining threats up and down the Eastern Sierra.
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 ROLG Highway Cleanup
Saturday May 21, 8am-11am
Please join us for our 30th highway cleanup season. The Range of Light Group has a 2-mile section of Highway 395 north of Mammoth Lakes, CA. Meet at the Crestview Rest Area, 5 miles north of Mammoth lakes. Wear closed shoes, hat, and dress in layers. A mask is briefly required in the car when you are shuttled to your starting location. Snacks provided and there is a prize for the most unusual roadside find. No dogs while picking up trash, please. Help keep the tradition going. RSVP: Dick or sign up on MeetUp.
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Snacks after the trash. Photo Credit:J Hihn
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Preserving the Amargosa with Susan Sorrells
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Amargosa River Photo Credit: Amargosa Conservancy
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Please join the Range of Light Group for a presentation by Susan Sorrells on Preserving Amargosa Tuesday, May 31, 6:30 PM. The Amargosa River is a unique desert river that starts in Nevada northeast of Beatty, flows south into California through Shoshone and Tecopa and then turns north and flows into the Badwater Basin in Death Valley. Much of the river flows underground, but parts flow on the surface. A stretch of almost 34 miles of it was designated a Wild and Scenic River. Find out what the Amargosa Conservancy is doing to protect it. Join us via Zoom here.
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Amargosa River and Order 1330
What’s Order 1330? It is a decision the Nevada State Engineer is planning to make about the groundwater management of the Amargosa Basin. But before he makes it, he is inviting public comments on Wednesday, May 25, 1pm in Amargosa Valley. (There will not be a virtual option.) Order 1330 says Nevada will use a 2020 USGS groundwater model called DV3, to (DV for Death Valley) to help manage the groundwater levels and usage in the Amargosa Basin.
The main resource that the State Engineer wants to protect is Devils Hole in Death Valley National Park in Nevada. A 1976 Supreme Court order prevents the water level in Devils Hole to drop below a minimum threshold. However, there are other natural resources that should be protected on the California side of the Amargosa Basin, i.e., the springs that feed the Amargosa River, Tecopa, and Shoshone. Click here to learn more. |
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Grazing Allotments Kept Vacant
On April 15, the interim Bridgeport District Ranger announced that the sheep grazing allotments between the Mono Basin and Twin Lakes, Bridgeport would continue to be closed and would not be converted to cattle grazing allotments. This news was a great relief. The area in question is fragile sub-alpine habitat from 8,000 to 10,000 feet in elevation. There are many streams and springs in the area that create a mosaic of different habitats for a diversity of wildlife. If the proposal had gone forward, the cattle would not have been fenced in and the stockwater would have been in riparian corridors along some of the streams and springs. |
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Dunderberg Meadow Photo credit: L. Boulton
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| There are Bi-state Sage Grouse in the area; in and near the allotments. Sierra Nevada Red Fox and other endangered species might move into the area if cattle are not present. This section of the Sierra front range is stunningly beautiful. When the flowers start blooming, the Range of Light Group will be offering hikes to the area to show people how beautiful it is. We even think it should be a 30 by 30 candidate for higher protection than USFS land. 30 by 30 is a California initiative to keep 30% of the state’s lands and waters in a natural state by 2030 to save life on our planet. Approximately 24% of California lands and 16% of its coastal waters are protected. We just need 6 million acres more of land to reach the goal. Follow what California is doing: #30x30CA. |
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Bodie Hills, CA with Mono Lake and Sierra in the distance Photo credit: L. Boulton
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LADWP's Pumping Plans this Year--More Than Last Year
Once again LADWP ignored the comments and recommendations of the Eastern Sierra citizens. As part of the Inyo County/LADWP Long Term Water Agreement, a Standing Committee meets to review the pumping plan each year. This year it met on May 12. LADWP explained their plans to pump between 67,210 and 86,300 going into the third year of drought and they will export 62,700 acre-feet to Los Angeles (LA). More will be pumped this year than last year and water levels in parts of the Owens Valley will drop an additional 2-3 feet in places.
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Groundwater pumped into the LA Aqueduct Photo credit: L. Boulton
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LADWP kicked off the meeting with presentations on how severe the drought is this year and how much has been done to reduce water consumption in Los Angeles to justify their pumping plan. They pointed out that this year is as bad as the drought was in the 1930s. One of the Standing Committee members asked about the size of the population in LA back in the 1930s as if with more people to serve, more water is needed now. That question highlights the misconception that LADWP only takes as much water as is needed in LA based on the size of its population. It does not. LADWP has taken as much water as their infrastructure allowed since 1913. The Owens River was cut off immediately in 1913 and the Owens Lake was completely dry by 1920. This was a lake that was crossed by boats. In the 1970s, LADWP started taking the groundwater too. It dropped the water table enough that the meadows in the Owens Valley dried up, trees died, and the vegetation started converting to desert scrub.
At the meeting, the public was given only one minute each to argue and explain why groundwater pumping should be reduced this year to just what is needed for in-valley uses or to argue how drought has been forced on the valley for over 100 years already. Surely Angelenos could conserve a little bit more for one year to prevent additional harm to the environment in the Owens Valley. However, our collective one-minute comments fell on deaf ears.
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Visit the LADWP Mitigation Projects
As part of the Inyo County/LADWP Long Term Water Agreement, 64 mitigation projects were defined to correct or compensate for the damage to the environment from two decades of intense groundwater mining in the Owens Valley. The Inyo County Water Department has created an easy-to-use map to see where they are and to learn about them. Click here to check them out. Some will surprise you. Some will make you sad--the revegetation projects are still works in progress. Feel free to visit them.
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The Mitigation Projects Map was developed by the Inyo County Water Department
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Subscribe to Every Last Drop
 New editions of Every Last Drop are out. Have you been keeping up? This is a great way to find out about LADWP's impact on the Owens Valley!
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Gold Exploration at Conglomerate Mesa Is Back On
Mojave Precious Metals, a subsidiary of K2Gold of Vancouver, Canada has requested that the BLM go forward with preparing an Environmental Impact Study of the impacts of its proposed Phase 2 gold exploration project at Conglomerate Mesa. According to their Plan of Operations, MPM wants to drill up to 4 holes at 120 locations and is asking to put in temporary roads to these drill sites and to haul out the heavy rock samples by pack animals. Conglomerate Mesa is a remote and remarkable area with sacred cultural resources and unique plants, fossils, and geologic formations. Tribes and environmental groups were working to permanently protect the area, especially from gold mining. The job just got harder.
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Looking east towards Death Valley from a woodrat nest site at Conglomerate Mes Photo Credit: L. Boulton
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If you would like to help us protect the environment, contact us. We'd love to have you help and input! Thank you! You may also join the ROLG Executive Committee meeting on May 26 at 4pm. Information for how to join will be on MeetUp.
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Serving Inyo and Mono Counties
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