Surprise: Water crisis in the desert

Re “Will water wars doom Trona?” Column One, Sept. 23

The idea pushed by farmers near the Mojave Desert town of Trona that there is abundant groundwater beneath the Indian Wells Valley is nonsense, plain and simple. There is indeed plenty of water, but it is unfit for drinking, watering lawns, growing crops or even filling swimming pools. With continued business as usual, nearly all wells will be unable to produce potable water.

Furthermore, commercial agriculture brings in far less money to the Indian Wells Valley and creates far fewer jobs than the nearby Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and the Trona chemical plants. The only reason the basin is in overdraft is commercial agriculture. China Lake and the Trona plants can function with water that can safely be pumped.

Finally, China Lake and the Trona chemical plants are essential, whereas the alfalfa and pistachios produced at local farms can be grown in many other places. Anyone who started farming in the Indian Wells Valley during the last 40 years did so despite the widely known looming water crisis.

Frank Grober

Oakland

Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times ALFALFA grower Claudia Ethun says she quit farming in Inyokern, Calif., because she could not afford the local water district’s “replenishment fee.”