The Water Desk, An initiative of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado, Boulder, supported research and reporting for this story.One of my secret camp spots is right next to Rush Creek, and when I slept there, just to hear the cobbles moving down, it was like a thunderstorm the whole night.Equally important, the flows raised the level of Mono Lake, a bird haven and the centerpiece of an ambitious restoration project that includes Rush Creek and other streams feeding the lake.Rather than sweeping policy remedies, quick fixes and one-time pushes for action, Mono Lake’s recovery resulted from decades of sustained efforts, including establishing layers of protection at different levels of government and the ongoing involvement of generations of researchers, activists and lawmakers who have fought to save the Mono Basin and reconnected thousands of stakeholders to an otherworldly environment that is at once easy to neglect and critically important.But Mono Lake is an example of we-can-do-this work in the environmental field.” Life-Sustaining Waters Were Once Close to Death Until Los Angeles started taking the water headed to Mono Lake in 1941, the ecosystem had helped sustain life “since time immemorial,” according to the Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Tribe."