LSI 2010 NRD Santa Fe final conference binder 072110.pdf

Brian D. Israel of Arnold & Porter LLP Speaker 5a: 16
The “Mono Lake” case
(California Supreme Court 1983)
In 1940, Los Angeles obtained a permit from
California to divert most of the water that flowed into
Mono Lake, near Yosemite National Park.
After decades of water diversion, the level of the
lake dropped and the surface area diminished
significantly.
Though Mono Lake itself was navigable (and
therefore part of the public trust), its tributaries were
not.
The case pitted the water needs of Los Angeles
against the public trust doctrine.
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Mono Lake, early 1980s
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Law Seminars International | Natural Resource Damages | 07/15/10 in Santa Fe, NM