Abigail Hartman

ENVL 3434-091

12/16/20

“Mono Lake Assessment”

Mono Lake currently has a surface area of 42,300 sq.ft with a volume of 2,400,000 ac-ft,

and a water elevation of 6,378 ft. The inputs of Mono Lake consist of groundwater inflow

(Q/GW) and precipitation (P), and the outputs consist of evapotranspiration (ET) and diverted

water. The outputs of Mono Lake outweigh the inputs, creating an annual deficit of 28,425 ac-ft.

To establish a water budget with a surface elevation of 6,392 ft, the managers of Mono Lake

need to reduce the current diversions in 10% increments, creating an annual surplus on the net

water level. The only factor that remains constant as the elevation of Mono Lake increases is

groundwater inflow.

After reducing the current diversions by 10%, inputs and outputs are effected as well;

including the surface area (Table 1). To calculate surface area for different elevations, additional

information for the projected surface area is needed to create a linear regression (mx+b). Once

linear regression is achieved, the slope (mx) is subtracted from the elevation and divided by the

calculated value of b. The surface area has a direct relationship on the amount of precipitation

flowing into Mono Lake, and the output of evapotranspiration. To calculate the change in P, the

original rate (8 in/yr) is divided by 12 months and multiplied by the surface area for each

elevation. To calculate the change in ET, the original rate (45 in/yr) is divided by 12 months and

multiplied by the surface area for each elevation. To calculate the change in current diversions,

the prior rate of diversion is multiplied by 90%. To determine the annual change in storage
(ft3/yr), the rate of inputs (ft3/yr) are subtracted from the rate of outputs (ft3/yr) for each elevation

(shown in Table 1 and Figure 1). Lastly, the net water level change is calculated by dividing the

surface area by the annual change in storage. The change in net water level is the key factor for

this equation, allowing the gradual increase in elevation and storage to be calculated.

Looking at Figure 1, the surface elevation of Mono Lake will rise 14 ft in approximately

25 years. The relationship between elevation and surface area start to have a linear regression

with a high correlation coefficient after 10 years of reductions. After the initial decade, every two

years the elevation increases by 2ft for every 1000ft increase in surface area. The two main

factors that will influence Mono Lake’s elevation in the future is soil erosion, and surface runoff.

As the surface area increases, the soils become oversaturated and the area’s wetted perimeter is

increased. Sedimentation and soil erosion rates will increase as the wetted perimeter increases.

Mono Lake's Projected Surface Area

50000.00

49000.00 Year 35
48000.00 Year 32
Surface Area (sq.ft)

Year 25
47000.00 Year 27
46000.00 Year 25

45000.00 Year 22
Year 20
44000.00 Year 18
43000.00 Year 15 y = 355.47x - 2E+06
Year 1 Year 13 R² = 0.9825
42000.00
Year 10
41000.00

40000.00
6378.00 6380.00 6382.00 6384.00 6386.00 6388.00 6390.00 6392.00 6394.00 6396.00 6398.00 6400.00
Elevation (ft)

Figure 1: This graph shows the linear regression for surface area and elevation for Mono Lake (Using data

from Table 1).

Table 1: This table shows the change in storage by calculating the gradual increase in

elevation, precipitation, and evapotranspiration for Mono Lake.