How salty is Mono Lake?
• A: Mono Lake contains about 280 million tons of dissolved salts. The concentration of salts in the water depends directly on how much water is in the lake. Before water diversions began in 1941, salinity was about 50 grams per liter (g/l). At the lowest lake level in 1982, it was 99 g/l. Currently it is about 78 g/l. Once it rises to its stabilization level in the next 20 years, salinity will average 69 g/l. For comparison, the ocean is about 31.5 g/l, or 3.5% dissolved solids by weight. The Great Salt Lake varies, but since the West Desert Pumping Project removed about 12% of the total salts in the 1980s, the southern arm is about 8.5% dissolved solids and the northern arm is 25-26%. Click here for more Mono Lake statistics.
