June Lake Public Utility District

P.O.Box 99
2380 Boulder Drive
June Lake, CA  93529
(760)  648-7778
Fax (760) 648-6801

  The June Lake Public Utility District is located in Mono County, California approximately 300 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California, 145 miles south of Reno, Nevada and 15 miles north of Mammoth Lakes. The District is situated in the June Lake Loop, which is just south of Highway 395 at Highway 158. The June Lake Loop is an area of great natural beauty lying immediately east of the main divide of the Sierra Nevada at an average elevation of approximately 7,600 feet. The area consists of a string of lakes of which Silver Lake, Gull Lake and a portion of June Lake are located within the District’s boundaries. June Mountain is located southeast of June Lake and reaches a height of 10,125 feet. The key elements of the Loop area are the surrounding mountains, and the system of creeks and lakes, which form a unique natural environment within the Sierras. This environment provides an ideal setting for both summer and winter vacationers. High summer temperatures generally vary between 60°F. and 80°F. Winter temperatures may drop as low as -30°F. Precipitation occurs mainly during the later part of winter and generally increases with altitude. Summer showers occur infrequently and are usually of short duration. Winter storms are commonly regional in nature, whereas summer storms occur as localized thunderstorms in the mountains. The June Lake Public Utility District’s boundaries include an area of approximately 1,720 acres of unincorporated residential, commercial and undeveloped land.

The District provides water to distinct areas within the District’s boundaries; the Village, West Village and Down Canyon. In addition, the District provides water to areas outside the District; Pine Cliff, Oh! Ridge, and June Lake Junction. The District’s economy is based almost entirely on personal services, recreational facilities and transient accommodations. June Lake Village functions as a shopping and service center to permanent residents, ski enthusiasts and other visitors to the June Lake area. Down Canyon facilities are oriented towards permanent residences and resort vacationers. The initial development of the June Lake Loop, known as The Village, occurred in the 1930’s and grew slowly and without any specific plan or goal until the implementation of the June Lake Loop General Plan in 1974.

The June Mountain ski area was completed in 1960 and until that time all development within the community centered around summer recreational uses and consisted primarily of Forest Service summer home tracts, campgrounds, permanent and semi-permanent residences and commercial resort facilities. The conversion of the area to a summer/winter resort increased the number of recreational visitors to the area and created additional pressure on the natural and man-made environment of the area.

In April of 1990, the June Lake Public Utility District acquired the Down Canyon water system from the Williams Tract County Water District. This area is primarily oriented to seasonal and year-round homes and to support commercial and recreational uses for the June Lake Loop. The 27 homes located along the east side of Silver Lake connected to the Down Canyon water system in 1991. Silver Lake Meadow, south of Silver Lake, is significantly limited in development potential due to its protected wetlands. There are two separate water systems in the District. The Village system is the older of the two.

The Down Canyon system is the second water system. There is no pipeline connection between the two systems and the two systems rely on different water sources. Water for the Village system is provided from a diversion dam at Snow Creek and the intake facility in June Lake. The original construction of the Village water system was in the 1940’s, including the Snow Creek diversion facility.

In 1978, the existing Snow Creek facilities were upgraded, including the construction of a treatment building with filters, chlorinator and turbidimeter. The June Lake treatment facilities, including a filtration plant, lake intake and storage tank, were constructed in 1972. The June Lake treatment facilities were replaced with a membrane filtration system in 2004. In 1983, a sedimentation basin was added to the Snow Creek diversion facility and two years later an 8-inch ductile iron transmission line was installed between the diversion facility and the Snow Creek plant. A new Snow Creek treatment plant, including a storage tank, was constructed in 1989. Sections of the distribution system throughout the Village system have been upgraded over the years including 1,200 feet of 10-inch water line in Hwy 158 (Main Street Village proper).

An Assessment District was formed for the West Village area in 2001 with the construction of approximately 1,800 feet of pipeline, a booster pump station and storage tank in 2002. The Down Canyon system is provided with water from diversions in Fern Creek and Yost Creek and has two water treatment plants; Peterson water treatment plant and Clark water treatment plant. Each have their own storage tanks. The Peterson facility was built in 1986 and the Clark facility was built in 1988. The June Lake Public Utility District annexed the system in 1990.