2001 RESOLUTIONS
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RESOLUTION
#18: CREATION OF WATERFOWL AND SHOREBIRD HABITAT AT OWENS LAKE
|
| The Environmental
Protection Agency and the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control
District are requiring Los Angeles to treat the hazardous PM-10 dust at
Owens Lake in California and to bring it into compliance with the Clean
Air Act by 2006. |
| Los Angeles is using two
primary methods to control this dust: shallow flooding of zones and
growing salt grass (a type of managed vegetation) over the surface of
the lake bed. Currently, Los Angeles is preparing 14 square miles
of the lake bed for shallow flooding by the fall of 2001. In
2002, another nine square miles will be prepared for managed
vegetation. Additional areas are scheduled for treatment by 2006. |
| Shallow flooding provides
the greatest habitat enhancement for waterfowl and shorebirds -- a
public trust value that never has been adequately defended by the State
of California at Owens Lake. Managed vegetation provides far less
habitat value for wildlife. Owens Lake is regarded as a
"nationally significant bird are" by the National Audubon Society
because of its large number of netting snowy plovers ( "species of
special concern" under the Endangered Species Act) and its significant
number of migrating shorebirds. Owens Lake historically supported
many thousands of migrating birds before it was virtually dried up by
the export of water to Los Angeles. |
| The Federation of Western
Outdoor Clubs: 1) strongly supports the commitment to the certain of
waterfowl and shorebird habitat at Owens Lake as part of the treatment
of the PM-10 dust hazard problem by the entities concerned (i.e., the
city of Los Angeles, the Great Basin Air Pollution Control District,
the California Department of Fish and Game, and the California State
Lands Commission); and 2) supports shallow flooding to the maximum
extent possible because of it proven value for nesting and migrating
birds and asks that creating bird habitat be an express part of its
dust treatment, not a mere secondary benefit. |
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