Per the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority (IWVGA) submitted a groundwater sustainability plan (GSP) to the Department of Water Resources under the wire for the January 31, 2020 deadline for critically over-drafted basins. Their plan documents how the Indian Wells Valley groundwater basin will achieve long-term sustainability by 2040. The IWV groundwater basin has a groundwater deficit of 24,990 af/yr. Their preferred solution could lead to more water being squeezed out of the Eastern Sierra.
The IWV GSP identified the need to import 5,000 acre feet of water per year to recharge their aquifer and proposed two ways to do that: Option 1) build an aqueduct from California City and buy water from the State Water Project (SWP) through the Antelope Valley-East Kern water agency or Option 2) build a spur off of the Los Angeles Aqueduct (LAA) and get water from Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). In Option 2, IWVWD would compensate LADWP for the water they import by buying water on their behalf from the SWP that would go to Los Angeles. The GSP claims that Option 2 would be the cheaper of the two (by half). However, it didn’t consider that LADWP most likely would ask for a 2:1 compensation rate i.e. 10,000 af to Los Angeles for every 5,000 af they take.
The Sierra Club was one of 23 people, agencies, or NGOs to comment on the Indian Wells Valley GSP. To see the public comments, go here. Mono County, FOI, and Sierra Club objected to the LADWP import option. The Nature Conservancy and California Department of Fish and Game focused on the lack of information on the impacts to surface vegetation in the region (groundwater-dependent ecosystems) from groundwater pumping.
The DWR has two years to either approve the IWV GSP or point out what more information is needed and/or what needs to be changed. Groundwater authorities can move ahead with their plans while waiting for DWR approval. Moving forward, IWVGA raised the groundwater rates from $30 to $105/af in July to cover the shortfall between the grant money and the final cost of preparing the GSP. In August, the IWVGA approved a replenishment fee of $24/month/residence to repair shallow wells and to buy water rights for imported water, locking in a rate, as the cost of water will only go up. The fee hits Searles Valley Minerals the hardest to the tune of $6 million/yr. They and Mojave Pistachios are suing the IWVGA for an unfair share of the burden.
Is there water for sale?
It is highly unlikely that a new contractor would be added to the State Water Project. The Existing 29 contractors have long-term contracts (75 years) and share the construction, maintenance, and operation costs over the life of the contract. On top of that, the SWP water allocation on average is 60%, but in 2020 it was only 20%! Also a recent court decree mandates more water go to fish. However, existing contractors can buy and sell water to landowners in their territories. It gets complicated but there are ways at least two agencies could sell some of their Central Valley Project or SWP water to LADWP through their connections with the Metropolitan Water District if LADWP were to provide water to IWVGA from the LAA in exchange. Then the AVEK (Antelope Valley-East Kern) Water Agency is one of the 29 SWP contractors. Although their water district's boundaries don't include the Indian Wells Valley right now, when asked if they can sell to IWVGA, the answer was that anything is possible if the price is right. They probably can extend their district to include the northeastern part of Kern County.