Hydrology Summary: Guide To Water Flows in the Mono Basin

An excellent source of information on Mono Basin water flows is Peter Vorster's (1985) thesis and model. This page provides a summary of Vorster's description of the water flows. The names (i.e., Sierra Gauged Runoff) have been selected to match Vorster's terminology. You'll notice that the same names appear in the model in chapter 4. All flows are measured in thousands of acre-feet per year which is abbreviated as KAF/yr. An acre-foot of water is the volume of water that would cover an acre to a depth of one foot.

The sketch portrays the main flows in the basin, with the width of the arrows representing the relative size of the flows. (This sketch is the current version of the sketch in Figure 4.3 of the book).

Cick on the names to learn about each flow, or scroll to the bottom to see a summary of all the flows.
Or you may return to the start of the Mono Pages or to the start of the website or to the description of a GIS for the Mono Basin.

 Sierra Gauged Runoff Precipitation Evaporation

 Export
to Los Angeles
 Other Out
Flows		 Other In
Flows


The illustrative values explained on these pages are based on average climate conditions and the
"business as usual" policy to export 100 KAF/yr to Los Angeles. The estimates are also based on
a surface area of 39 thousand acres -- the approximate size of the lake at the end of the 1980s.
Flows Into the Basin  KAF/yr Flows Out of the Basin  KAF/yr
Sierra Gauged Runoff 150  Export 100
Precipitation 26  Evaporation 139
Other In Flows 48 Other Out Flows 34
 Total Flow In: 224  Total Flow Out: 273

With these assumptions, the total outflow exceeds the total inflow by 50 KAF/yr. The lake would shrink
by 50KAF/yr. The volume of the lake near the end of the 1980's was around 2,228 KAF, so a loss of 50 KAF/yr
would reduce the lake by 2.2%/yr.