Roofs Collapsing, Roads Flooding, and Avalanches Burying Everything in their Path—Oh my!
What in the past might have been seen as a “Miracle March,” a month bringing large amounts of late-season snow, is now making an already big year feel apocalyptic to some weary residents, or, at least, hardly a "miracle." While such folks might grumble that it just seems to never end, others are excited to be breaking all the records—whether it is snow depth, snow water equivalent, or raw number of precipitation days—it's official: 2023 is definitely a big year.
With big years come big joys and skiers and snowboarders near and far are celebrating Mammoth Mountain Ski Area being open until “at least” late July. Unfortunately, however, with big years also come big problems. The end of February saw several massive avalanches which carried debris from the 2016 Marina Fire burn down onto a portion of the U.S. 395. The result is a half-mile stretch of highway at Lee Vining blocked under 30 to 40 feet of deep snow. Caltrans has been working hard to remove the snow, but emergency repair is slow going as the avalanche debris is not only snow: It is also ice, rocks, trees, wire fencing, guardrails and more, which can be damaging to snow removal equipment. Continued snowfall throughout the month of March has increased further avalanche risk in the area, creating more delays in the opening of this stretch of highway due to instability and danger to human health. Caltrans is now working to conduct escorts through the area, but an official full opening remains unseen.
Mid-March also brought a new threat to Mono County residents: roof collapses. Several structures have collapsed from early March’s rain-on-snow event which led to a snowpack heavily saturated with water and, therefore, extremely heavy. While no one was hurt in these incidents, another snow-related event did lead to several serious injuries at the Val d’Isere Condominiums in Mammoth Lakes, as a propane tank’s regulator, smothered under the pressure of much snow, ended up exploding. The explosion destroyed the building, wounding five. Emergency service crews, courtesy of California’s Office of Emergency Services, have become a familiar sight across the Mammoth and Long Valley area.
While there is lots of snow in Mammoth, the Owens Valley, which has become quite parched thanks to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's (LADWP) dewatering over the last century, became a landscape refreshed with some snow and soaked with lots of rain this March, leading to flooding across the valley floor. The Nuumu name for this place, Payahuunadu, the land of flowing water, came to mean more than the creeks and rivers which flow from the mountains to nourish the valley, with water spilling across both paved and dirt roads wiping out many people’s modes in and out of their homes. Bishop became its own island, with the US 395 closed from Pearsonville to Bishop due to flooding, and all the way from Bishop to the Lee Vining avalanche site due to snow.
To the horror of some and the joy of others, the L.A. Aqueduct breached for the first time in its 100-plus years. A 120-foot-long section of concrete wall crumbled, letting out stormwater near Olancha. It took almost a week and more than 100 LADWP staff working nonstop to repair the damage. This breach came from just stormwater alone. Now LADWP is looking to make emergency appointments for Aqueduct and Reservoir Keepers before the end of the month in order to prepare for the real storm: the massive runoff expected to come from the melting of a record-breaking snowpack.
So what does this mean for our ecosystems?
This winter has changed much of the drought status across the state, with only 8.5% of the state of California still classified as in a state of severe drought, 35.9% in a state of moderate drought, and 51.2% classified as “moderately dry.” Yet, the effects of severe and extreme drought remain on the land. Rain-deprived soil can become dry and brittle, making it more prone to erosion and landslides when heavy rainfall finally arrives.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has already been scrambling to spread water across the Eastern Sierra as it usually does in the spring. Previous Every Last Drop articles have described how water is spread in Long Valley and beyond to manage water levels in the aqueduct, but what about in a year that has water levels so high the L.A. Aqueduct is breaching even before the snow starts melting in the high Sierra?
Those hoping to keep the aqueduct under control, and those hoping to be skiing in August, are praying for the same thing: a spring that warms up the Sierra snowpack slowly and steadily, not all at once.
As discussed in last month’s Every Last Drop, the changing climate is causing shifting in seasonal snowpack, with warmer winters and springs causing earlier runoff. So far, this winter has been the exception, with cold temperatures keeping the snowpack around. Now, residents looking out their window at 20-plus feet of snow can only hope this remains relatively true of spring, and they are not looking upon the same water that might flood their house should this pattern change. Should the snow melt quickly, flooding and landslides are likely to manifest, putting stress on the already aging infrastructure of the aqueduct, and the roads and bridges that serve the low-lying communities on the valley floor.
Speaking of flooding, the infamously dry and dust-emitting Owens Lake, pictured here, is finally getting more water! LADWP’s Owens Lake Dust Mitigation Program, which encompasses a 1,400 square mile area in the Eastern Sierra, is the largest dust mitigation program in the United States and LADWP has begrudgingly spent over $2.5 billion on projects designed to prevent the lakebed’s dust from becoming airborne. Shallow flooding, which returns a small amount of water to the lake, is the most effective method for curbing emissive dust. However, much of this program utilizes non-water methods, such as salt and gravel, which, with both rain events and the potential massive runoff, LADWP fears will be washed away, bringing their dust containment levels down on these non watered areas.
Mono Lake, which residents and people who love the Eastern Sierra have been fighting to protect from going the way of Owens Lake for decades, will also even rise a bit given this colossal winter. However, LADWP is not out of the woods on Mono Lake’s case before the State Water Board: Even if the emergency low levels are rectified, the State Water Board will still have to revisit LADWP’s allowed stream diversions, which continue to rob the lake of water and prevent it from getting to the level determined almost 30 years ago. The Mono Lake Committee is still calling on the State Water Board to revisit stream diversion allowances as stipulated in the original 1994 decision, should LADWP fail to raise the lake to the determined level. One good winter might help the nesting gull population on Negit Island for one year by preventing coyotes from swimming through shallow waters or walking across a land bridge, but one good winter will not prevent the lake’s levels from continuing to drop in subsequent years.
One good winter does not erase a drought
Now for the first time in years, it is being reported that LADWP will be able to receive the majority of its water from the Eastern Sierra through the fall, rather than buying it form the California Aqueduct or the Colorado River Aqueduct. The question that remains is, will this monetary savings be offset by infrastructure damage control, or will the Eastern Sierra finally see a windfall for better investment in water strategies?
This water year has punched water managers in the face, with a great deal of work to be done in the form of damage control, but for many it is a welcome break from the desperate times of drought. Despite the new challenge of too much, we have, for at least a little while, a break from from worrying about having too little. We have time to reevaluate our management of water and the changing climate that makes water more unpredictable. We have time to change the policies that govern where we source and use water, to better prepare for continuing patterns of feast and famine.
Get ready for the next year of climate extremes with us: Join Keep Long Valley Green to stand as a voice for Eastern Sierra ecosystems and communities by signing up to volunteer with us!
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March Wrap-Up
Keep Long Valley Green Coalition Member Eastern Sierra Land Trust has an exciting update for migrating animals: the U.S. 395 Wildlife Crossing, which will be located in Long Valley, has been named this month as one of the top 12 priority projects in the state for improving wildlife connectivity. The project will soon be moving into the Project Approval and Environmental Documentation phase.
Owen's Lake Bird Festival
"Without Water" will be showing at Keep Long Valley Green Coalition Member Friends of the Inyo's annual Owen's Lake Bird Festival, at the Saturday night dinner party on April 22nd in Lone Pine. Go to the registration page using the button below for more details.
May 6th: Long Valley Bike Tour
Over the past year, Friends of the Inyo/Keep Long Valley Green have been engaging with Haley Fitzpatrick, a doctoral student of the University of Oslo, to discuss creative approaches to resilience in the Eastern Sierra. We are now excited to announce that Haley, as part of her work on Resilient Mountain Futures, is partnering with Keep Long Valley Green to host a FREE, easy, and interactive biking tour of Long Valley, Saturday May 6th, 2023 10:00am-1:00pm!
This tour will feature some outdoor exploration, mind-body movement, and discussion on local sustainability challenges and strategies for healthier rural/urban connections. Local experts/coalition members will be there to offer diverse perspectives as we stop at points of interest along the route.
Of course, we are very aware of the snowy situation in Long Valley; we will also have a back-up plan of snowshoeing/hiking instead of biking. As the date gets closer, we will share all updated information via email and social media @keeplongvalleygreen.
About Haley:
Haley Fitzpatrick is PhD student in Systems-Oriented Design at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO) in Norway, supervised by Prof. Dr. Tobias Luthe and Prof. Dr. Birger Sevaldson. She is researching how a systemic design approach can be used to co-create resilient and regenerative futures for mountain communities. Haley is actively engaging across three international communities – Ostana Italy, Hemsedal Norway, and the Eastern Sierra, California to explore how diverse places, cultures, and worldviews shape sustainability transformations. She also teaches courses on these topics at AHO and is a Design Associate at the real-world alpine laboratory MonViso Institute, where she facilitates outdoor, explorative events that focus on reconnecting humans with nature.
Without Water is Now Streaming Online!
Can't make it to a film festival showing Without Water? Good news- you can now watch our film for FREE, online, anytime!
Help us in a big way by doing something small: spread the message of Keep Long Valley Green by simply sending people in your contacts (and especially Los Angeles residents) the link to Without Water.
Credits:
Jaime Lopez Walters photo credits unless otherwise stated