CalTrout I Saves Mono Lake Tributaries
In 1941, the State Water Board granted the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) water licenses to transfer Mono Basin water to Los Angeles. The result was the lowering of Mono Lake and the quick destruction of its four tributaries—Rush, Walker, Parker, and Lee Vining Creeks, all prime trout streams. In 1984, following a series of wet years, a local trout fisherman noticed trout teeming in Rush Creek after years of what had been essentially a dried-up stream. This discovery set in motion a true David vs. Goliath legal battle, “CalTrout I and II,” that tested a little-used Fish and Game Code (5937) against the water rights of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
#4 in our 50th Anniversary Series
CALTROUT I
In January 1989, a Sacramento Appellate court judge ordered the state to recall and reissue water licenses to LADWP for the four tributaries to Mono Lake. The new licenses had to comply with DFG Code 5937, which states “The owner of any dam shall allow sufficient water at all times to pass over, around, or through the dam, to keep in good condition any fish that may be planted or exist below the dam.” This ruling, which became known as CalTrout I, ended nearly 50 years of improperly dewatering the streams, and established that the Fish and Game Code 5937 took precedence over LADWP’s water rights.
