Water Department
The Owens Valley Monitor 1999-2000
| Owens Lake Groundwater Evaluation Under an agreement with the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District (GBUAPCD), LADWP must control dust from 10 square miles of Owens Lake by 2001. By 2006, LADWP must have implemented sufficient dust control on the lake so that federal air quality standards are met. Water necessary to implement these measures will be supplied from diversions from the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
(Click on image to enlarge). In the summer of 1998, LADWP proposed pumping groundwater from Owens Lake to obtain some of the water that will be needed to supply its dust control measures. The county became involved with the proposal because groundwater pumping by LADWP in Inyo County is subject to the Inyo/Los Angeles Water Agreement. The county and LADWP jointly selected the firm of Camp Dresser & McKee to assist in an evaluation of the proposed pumping. CDM was given three tasks: (1) solicit input from the public regarding the environmental criteria by which groundwater pumping should be managed, (2) evaluate a proposal by LADWP for short-term pumping to supply a pilot dust abatement project at the lake, and (3) prepare a work plan for an evaluation of LADWP's proposal for long-term pumping from the lake. The consultants' work was conducted under a program called the Owens Lake Groundwater Evaluation (OLGE). The conclusions of the OLGE will be presented to the Inyo/Los Angeles Standing Committee and to the public in June. During the course of the OLGE, CDM conducted a series of public workshops and interviews with interested citizens to hear their views. CDM reported that, in general, they wanted no change in water quantity or quality at non-LADWP wells, no damage to structures through land subsidence, no adverse changes to vegetation, and no loss of wildlife habitat. The result was a set of recommended standards and objectives for pumping at Owens Lake. |
To evaluate the LADWP proposal for groundwater pumping in the short term, from 1999 to 2001, to supply the pilot project, CDM modified a groundwater model developed by the Desert Research Institute of Reno, Nevada, for GBUAPCD. The model was used to predict impacts to seep and spring flows and reductions of vegetation around the perimeter of the lake. However, the model tended to under-predict the amount of water table drawdown when the model results were compared with the actual drawdown that occurred during an aquifer test conducted by GBUAPCD near the Owens River Delta last year. In September 1999, LADWP announced that it would not pursue short-term groundwater pumping to supply the pilot dust control project. LADWP said the OLGE had shown additional studies were needed to determine the amount of pumping, if any, that could take place without causing undesirable environmental impacts at the lake. With regard to its final task of developing recommended studies to evaluate the feasibility of conducting long-term pumping from the lake, CDM developed a draft work plan that outlines recommended future studies and monitoring at Owens Lake. CDM's plan includes studies to address (1) the physical characteristics that affect the flow, storage, and quality of groundwater; (2) the lake's water budget (or the quantities of water that enter and leave the lake basin); and (3) the relationship between the groundwater basin and other environmental factors, such as native vegetation, wetlands, and private wells. In June 2000, CDM presented its recommendations at its final workshop in Lone Pine. LADWP has said that, because of the amount of work involved in implementing dust control measures on the lake, it does not plan to decide whether to move ahead with the evaluation of its proposed long-term pumping from the lake for at least the next year or two. If LADWP proposes pumping at Owens Lake in the future, in consideration of CDM's recommendations, Inyo County and LADWP would conduct a program of studies and monitoring at the lake. A public process would once again take place to inform the public of the pumping proposal and its potential impacts. Any pumping will be governed by the Inyo/Los Angeles Water Agreement. Based on the outcome of the studies and the public's views on the pumping, the Standing Committee will establish the standards and objectives to govern the pumping. Return to the Table of Contents  |
