Judge to Rule on Water Diversion Suit
Siskiyou County Municipal Judge David E. Otis, sitting in Mono County Superior Court, said he will take several weeks to decide the fate of a Mono Lake tributary, after hearing five hours of argument Friday in a tug-of-war between fishermen and the City of Los Angeles.
Otis also set a hearing for July 23 on Rush Creek, but he could cancel it if he agrees with either the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power or the two fishermen’s groups and rules without a trial.
Los Angeles has diverted the eastern Sierra Nevada stream into its aqueduct system since 1940, leaving its lower reaches dry in most years. But in 1981 it began releasing more water down Rush Creek because of a series of wet winters.
One unforeseen consequence was the reestablishment of a population of brown and rainbow trout estimated at 30,000 to 50,000.
When the city moved to divert the water again last fall, the California Trout Inc. and the Mammoth Fly Rodders sued to stop the move. Otis issued a preliminary injunction against Los Angeles in March, ordering a minimum stream flow of 19 cubic feet per second.
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