S. N. A. R. L.

The Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (SNARL) has been operating at the base of the Sierras since 1973, managed by the University of California, Santa Barbara. The lab's 55 acre site on the west side of Highway 395 includes a system of nine artifical diversions of Convict Creek, used to study stream hydrology and ecology. Research at SNARL influenced the State Water Resource Control Board's 1994 decision to order Mono Lake's water level to be raised to restrict its ecosystem. In addition to the field lab here, SNARL has a snow lab on Mammoth Mountain and recently acquired the old High Sierra Presbyterian Church on Highway 395.