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and its salinity levels have gone down. Water has also been returned to the
Owens River, allowing it to l ow again for the i rst time in i t y years.
h is case profoundly af ected California's water policy, making it impos-
sible for water administrators to neglect the needs of ecosystems in water policy
decisions. h e story of Mono Lake is considered a shining example of what is
possible in environmental restoration of aquatic habitats, including rivers, lakes,
deltas, estuaries, and marshes, that have suf ered under water development.
h e success at Mono Lake provides hope that perhaps other regions of
the West decimated by water development will be revived in the future.
For instance, biologists studying the Colorado River delta have noted that,
at er unusually wet winters such as the El NiƱo years of 1983, 1988, 1993,
and 1997, winter rains and spring snowmelt i lled the reservoirs on the
Colorado River to the brim, forcing dam operators to release excess water.
h is relatively small amount of excess river water reached the delta and was
sui cient enough to revive the habitat of a small region, perhaps 150,000
acres. Biologist Ed Glenn and his colleagues at the University of Arizona
have speculated that these small releases mimic the spring l oods that used
to reach the delta before the dams were built. He proposes that 1 percent of
Colorado River water be allocated for the delta every year in order to restore
and maintain many of its key habitats.
Tulare Lake in California's southern San Joaquin Basin is another can-
didate for restoration. Its inl owing rivers were diverted and the lakebed
was converted to cotton i elds, but, during very wet years, a small part of
the lake basin l oods. h e nonproi t Tulare Basin Wildlife Partners has
been preserving the one remaining creek that l ows to the lake from the
Sierra Nevada, and the group has begun small-scale restoration of wetlands
around the lake.
dam r emoval
Policymakers are analyzing other ways to reverse the collateral damage to
our ecosystems from water development, including dam removal. In the arid
West, colossal dams were once thought to be critical to prosperity. Today,
there are alternatives that can achieve the functions provided by these dams,
without the damage. Wetland restoration and riparian buf ers can provide
l ood control. Limiting development in the l oodplains can decrease risks
from l oods. Dam removal becomes a more reasonable proposal when we
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