In 2018, The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) decided to de-water Long and Little Round Valleys, CA. The LADWP notified leaseholders in that it would be eliminating their irrigation allotments. This water not only helps to support local pasture, it also plays a critical role in maintaining wetland and meadow habitat – much of which were lost in 1941 when LADWP built the Long Valley Dam and created Crowley Lake.
Mono County and the Sierra Club filed litigation in August 2018 to stop the dewatering of Long Valley and Little Round Valley, challenging LADWP’s failure to perform an environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In a major victory in March 2021, the Alameda Superior Court ruled that LADWP could not carry out such a drastic change from historical practice without first conducting a CEQA environmental review.
As of now, the dewatering has stalled. At the GZ, you are looking at Little Round Valley. When the water runs, the wildflowers are abundant. You may see sheep grazing. You may be warned off by the Great Pyranese sheepdogs that guard the flock. (They aren't concerned with humans.)
The cache is located under a tree. Look for a SPOR.