TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2024 Board discusses recommendations to LADWP
Advocates for minimum pumping
During a special meeting on Friday afternoon, the Inyo County Board of Supervisors discussed the recommendations they would make in a letter to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) concerning the 2024-25 water operations and pumping plan.
The conversation focused on managing water resources in the valley and the need for more specific and well-defined regulations with LADWP to ensure environmental sustainability.
Holly Alpert, Inyo County’s water department director, approached the board to discuss the upcoming LADWP plan and how it could affect the water levels and vegetation in the valley. She said last year’s runoff was 214% more than normal, making pumping in the area the lowest since
1970.
Last year LADWP pumped 35,220 acre feet, which is only half of the 70,000 acre feet annual average.
Across the county’s nine well fields, indicator wells tested have shown a rise in water levels by over three feet, with Alpert noting that 33 of the 46 indicator wells tested were above the set baseline as of April 2024.
Vegetation cover had an overall increase with both grass and shrub cover up from previous years. Some well field parcels show lower vegetation cover compared to the mid-1980s baseline.
The 24/25 water operations plan includes
LADWP pumping proposed to be between 51,470 to 77,413 acre-feet, mostly out of Big Pine, which is recommended to provide up to 21,300 AF. The plan also includes the exportation of 286,000 AF of water which would support 60% of LA’s total water supply for the year.
INDEX
The plans lists just over 95,000 AF of water for invalley uses and 7,000 AF for spreading.
“To put that into context, on average we supply about a third of their water supply so this is substantially more than what we usually provide,” said Alpert.
Alpert said county staff concluded that the board should support the county by recommending LADWP pump the minimum of 51,470 AF and restrict use only for in-valley while pushing for maximizing the use of surface water in place of groundwater where possible.
“Minimal pumping will minimize groundwater decline so that we can come close to meeting vegetation goals,” said Alpert.
District 4 Supervisor Jennifer Roeser opened the dais discussion by questioning the baseline data for the SymmesSheperd well field, as the well field has significantly concentrated pumping for a mitigation project, and asked if there are variations between wells in the field.
Alpert confirmed there is a variation with the lowest well at eight feet below the baseline and the highest well at one to two feet below the baseline. Roeser stated at least one well there is focused on supplying the mitigation project so she wasn’t sure if the baseline is realistically obtainable.
Roeser also questioned whether pumping water from the Big Pine Reservation is included in the pumping plan, as there is committed water that is delivered there.
“There is a lot of pumping in the well field and I assume that includes Fish Springs and also the miti
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LADWP Board Commissioner Randy Keller asked if groundwater levels impact vegetation, but Alpert denied any correlation between the two.
District 1 Supervisor Trina Orrill expressed concern about LADWP’s proposal of exporting water from the county to supply 60% of the supply for the LA area and was clear that she would like to recommend much less than the proposed minimum pumping amount.
When the time came for the public to comment, Environmental Director at Big Pine Sally Manning encouraged the board to keep the Big Pine Paiute Tribe in mind, as they have no seat at the table.
As the water tables have risen, Manning said some water has recovered, and the board must now look to the future. She warned that if the county was not careful, they could enter into a downward spiral of vegetation conditions with shrubs encroaching on the grass. She advocated for promoting mitigation efforts for grass recovery with mowing or fire.
“This is one of the most important decisions you make about the environment in the year,” said Manning.
Danelle Gutierrez, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for Big Pine Tribe, emphasized the importance of water conservation and sustainability for indigenous communities, saying the reservation’s vegetation is dying. She noted Big Pine as being the most overpumped area and encouraged the board to look into recovery efforts for land and water resources.
Noah Williams, the water program coordinator for Big Pine Tribe, strongly urged the county to lower LADWP’s minimum pumping amount.
After hearing the community’s responses to what the county had discussed, the board refocused the discussion on the recommendations to include in the letter to LADWP about the proposed 24/25 water operations plan. Chairman Matt Kingsley directed staff to focus on retaining water levels throughout the valley by not exporting water from Inyo County.
“We feel it’s shortsighted not to use the opportunities when we have big water years to prepare for the years when we may not have big water years, and we certainly have seen that cycle,” said Kingsley. “I think somewhere in the letter we need to highlight that these historic water years are opportunities to continue to keep the exports to a minimum and increase the water that’s left here in the valley.”
Kingsley also told staff to mention that the baseline is only a minimum that was set many years ago and that the goal should be to have water and vegetation levels above or at baseline.
The supervisors agreed to advocate for minimum pumping and the use of surface water for mitigation projects, where feasible, to mitigate impacts on local ecosystems and public health, as well as encourage vegetation management including mowing and burning.