Fact Check: 2011-2012 LADWP Owens Valley Operations Plan
Sierra Wave Radio and Website located in the Eastern Sierra, California recently ran a story about a meeting of the Inyo County-Los Angeles Technical Group. The story contained opinions and allegations about the LADWP's water-gathering operations that the LADWP does not agree with. The following information is meant to clarify the LADWP's 2011-2012 Owens Valley Operations Plan.
LADWP TO RELEASE 2011-2012
OWENS VALLEY OPERATIONS PLAN
In accordance with the Inyo County-Los Angeles Water Agreement, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) on May 16 will release its 2011-2012 Owens Valley operations plan. The mutual goals of the historic 1991 Water Agreement are the protection and enhancement of the environment in the Owens Valley, and the optimal use of Los Angeles’ wells to produce drinking water for the city. With the Eastern Sierra snowpack runoff forecast to be 616,900 acre-feet* or 150% of average, LADWP anticipates pumping about 91,000 acre-feet of groundwater during the runoff year (April – March). This is less than the amount of water that will be used within the Owens Valley for pasture and livestock water, and environmental enhancement and mitigation projects.
LADWP plans to provide almost 200,000 acre-feet of water for various Owens Valley uses, including 55,000 acre-feet for irrigation, 11,000 for stock water, 10,500 for enhancement/mitigation projects, 10,400 for recreation and wildlife uses, 16,900 for the Lower Owens River Project and 95,000 for the Owens Lake Dust Mitigation Program. Most of these uses are part of the Water Agreement wherein Inyo County secured specific water allotments and land management practices to ensure the rural appeal of the Valley and to mitigate the past and present impacts of Los Angeles exercising its water rights.
In response to recent media and public comment, Director of Water Operations Marty Adams said, “I read an assertion that LADWP wanted to follow a water policy of ‘get all you can get.’ That simply is not true. We are targeting to pump less than half of the 197,000 acre-feet of groundwater that the Owens Valley environmental protections, known as well ‘on-off triggers,’ would provide for under the Water Agreement. The Water Agreement is an official court document that has a specific set of rules that must be followed. The notion that Los Angeles operates outside of the Water Agreement’s parameters is simply wrong.”
With the recent state-wide drought ending this past winter, California received exceptionally high precipitation and environmental conditions in the Owens Valley are quite good. Vegetation conditions are at or near 1984-87 baseline cover levels and the groundwater table remains high. Heavier than normal precipitation on the valley floor during the 2010-2011 runoff year, on top of the current high groundwater levels and well above normal forecast runoff, promise to make environmental conditions in the upcoming year even better. Due to the higher than normal runoff and the relatively modest pumping planned for this year, the overall groundwater table is expected to rise by about one-half foot by April 2012.
According to Brian Tillemans, LADWP Watershed Resources Manager, “The Water Agreement prescribes pumping based on soil moisture and vegetation water requirements. We know from experience that a reasonable level of pumping can be sustained while maintaining environmental health and minimizing impacts. There has been a lot of discussion about using depth to water as an operational guide. That option was rejected when the Water Agreement was written 20 years ago, so vegetation conditions and soil moisture are the guides we are currently obligated to use.”
The LADWP is actively working with Inyo County to develop new wellfield operations protocols to better achieve the Water Agreement's dual goals of maintaining Owens Valley environmental protections and providing a reliable water supply for Los Angeles and Inyo County. The LADWP expects that when new wellfield operations rules are agreed to, the LADWP will be able to more effectively manage groundwater pumping in the Owens Valley within the parameters of the Water Agreement.
Total water deliveries to Los Angeles from Inyo and Mono Counties are projected to be about 387,000 acre-feet during the 2011-2012 runoff year, with exports from the Owens Valley making up approximately half of the Eastern Sierra water delivered to the City. Meanwhile, daily water use in the City is down to a remarkable 117 gallons per capita and LADWP continues to explore new water saving and recycling ideas and opportunities. In spite of the statewide announcement that the drought is over, Los Angeles continues to stress water conservation and develop other local water resources.
Due to the extraordinary water conservation efforts made by Angelenos, the overall water demand for the upcoming year is expected to be only 557,000 acre-feet, which is lower today than in 1970, although the population has increased from 2.8 million to over 4.1 million over that same time. Local groundwater, reclaimed water, and water purchases from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (primarily water imported from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta) will supplement Eastern Sierra exports to meet the balance of the city’s municipal demand.
* One acre-foot equals 326,000 gallons.
