Customer Reviews

Storm over Mono: The Mono Lake Battle and the California Water Future

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I guess I may be a little biased because I was one of the primary sources for the book, but with some very minor issues, it is the most accurate re-telling of a story that should have been turned into a film. If you want to read a GREAT legal story that is also a true story, this is an excellent read. Oh yeah, it also has the obligatory beautiful photographs of Mono lake. Seems that lake doesn't know how to take a bad photograph! :-)

In this version of the story, it's David Gaines - the graduate student from U. C. Davis. And Goliath is none other then the water company brought to life by William Mulholland and friends. Storm Over Mono has all the makings of a biblical tale, however, it reads much more like a case study for a class in environmental law.

The small, but scrappy, Mono Lake Committee along with California Trout and others used their dogged persistence to protect one of the more unique ecosystems in all North America. John Hart recounts this critical conservation battle in American history with the greatest of precision and detail -- real, high-stakes stuff with a happy ending.

A little background: Mono Lake rests in an arid basin just below the shadow of the Sierra Nevada in Northern California - unfortunately, not quite far enough from the long arm of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Referred to as the "Mono Extension", L.A. Water and Power drained Lee Vining and Rush Creeks. Over decades, this water project diverted critical fresh water flows into Mono Lake - lowering the lake's level and rising it's salinity.

With the lake's ecosystem faltering in the 1970's, a group of "bird freaks" from the University of California at Davis saw the clear signs in their research and sounded the alarm. Members from this research group, including David and Sally Gaines, led the efforts to organize the diverse legal and environmental support needed to defeat a giant like L.A.'s Department of Water and Power. (If you're fortunate enough to fish the lower run of Rush Creek or explore the lake, be sure to tip your hat to the Mono Lake Committee and company.)

One final note: today, Los Angeles County is home to 10 million people. (If L.A. County were a state, it would rank 8th in total population.) David won the battle over Mono Lake, but I'm afraid the water war is far from over in California.

This book was first reviewed on the reviewer's own site: EcoAngler.com - The Nature of Fly Fishing.

How ironic that the only other Amazon review of this exceptional book, labels it "brilliant, historical research"....

Ironic because the very presence of Mono Lake is long history, and the lake itself is "brilliant", something which most Californians apparently don't comprehend.

And yes, this book itself is brilliant....It may not discuss all the ramifications of water in Callifornia's future, and it doesn't much touch on California's future itself, but it definitely shows us all how we can still fight the forces of "development".

But then, Mono Lake is already "developed"...Keep up the fight!

This is the real, factual story of the battle to save Mono Lake, and it's as readable as a thriller. In this day of global warming and other countless environmental concerns, where it's those who realize the future against those who can't see the forest for the trees, this story is a base map. The book should definitely be brought back into print.