MEETING NOTES: Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority gets SGMA update as detractors question, chide board members

Meeting: Indian WellsValley Groundwater Authority board of directors
Date: October 9, 2024
Agenda and Packet: CLICK HERE

Public Comments

Members of the public told the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority that the board lacked “face” for failing to represent it itself at community events and meetings and this was causing a negative perception of the authority.

Another commenter asked the authority to stop work on a water import pipeline as “it simply costs too much for the people to bear.”

A third commenter accused the authority of various deceptions about the state of the Indian Wells Valley water basin and asked for the authority to be disbanded immediately and efforts to bring water into the valley be turned over to the Indian Wells Valley Water District (IWV), which serves most of Ridgecrest, instead.

Board members did not respond.

Recycled Water

The board heard a presentation that revisited the idea of  recycling more water to help with the region’s groundwater overdraft. Recycled water would not bring new water to the basin nor be an effective solution to Indian Wells’ problems and recycling more water would create a rate increase, according to the speaker.

Still, the Indian Wells Valley Water District (IWV) urged the authority to look into the project using federal Bureau of Reclamation funding. Because the authority serves as the liaison between IWV and the Bureau, it needs the authority’s buy-in. 

The authority’s presentation noted that recycled water had been offered to IWV previously but the district had passed on it. Chuck Griffin, the IWV representative on the authority board, said IWV passed because that deal included strings, including a promise not to sue the authority. 

Philip Hall, legal counsel for the authority, said the real issue IWV had with the recycled water was over a bonding issue to pay for the authority’s replenishment fee.

The replenishment fee was established as part of the region’s groundwater plan.

Under that plan, the authority severely restricted pumping for most users with the exception of the U.S. Navy, which operates the China Lake Naval Weapons Base in the basin. The Navy uses the lion’s share of pumping. The water district has a small allocation while agricultural users have zero pumping allocation.

Those users can still pump water, but must pay the authority $2,130-per-acre-foot. That fee is intended to raise $50 million so the authority can buy and import water from elsewhere in the state through a pipeline it is in the process of building.

Board member John Vallejo questioned what downside there could be if the authority  allowed IWV to use Bureau funding for its recycled water project.

Chairman Philip Peters said he didn’t see a purpose to pursuing the project as it would still require 75% of the cost to come from water users and it wouldn’t solve the problem of getting more water for the Indian Wells Valley.

Griffin agreed recycled water wasn’t the solution. But multiple projects could make a dent in the problem, he said.

He was asked why IWV hadn’t already looked into recycling water as nothing prevented it from acting on its own. Griffin said IWV was close to completing such a study.

Action: The board agreed IWV should pursue its own recycled water project and present its findings to the authority.

SGMA Update

Jeff Helsley of Stetson Engineers presented an evaluation of the authority’s groundwater plan, which is required every five years under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

Stetson looked at anticipated water levels under various scenarios, including: Implementation of the imported water pipeline; Allowing current pumping to continue; And how climate change could affect water levels, among other scenarios.

Director Griffin asked for the location of water wells with declining levels and what depth was used to develop the model’s baseline water levels because IWV numbers were different.

Attorney Hall asked if Griffin was referencing information from an incomplete water model by IWV.

The questions were met with contempt from Griffin.

“If you’re trying to hang me, you are not going to hang me. I don’t appreciate the attempts to interrogate, I don’t even know what it is called, but you are not going to upset me. I have the right as a board member to ask him [Jeff Helsley] a question.”

Griffin then asked the chairman to address Hall. Chairman Peters responded that Hall was doing his job as the authority’s legal representative in relation to litigation started by IWV.

IWV initiated a legal adjudication over the basin, asking a court to determine water amounts and rights. 

Johnson responded to Griffin’s question saying that his report on the well water levels declining was based on projections.  

General Manager Report

Finally in her report Carol Thomas-Keefer, general manager for the authority, addressed the public comments made at the beginning of the meeting. She thanked the speakers and said there would be considerations to arrange speaking engagements from the authority.

Meanwhile, the authority is enhancing its website to educate the community on some of the basin’s water issues. She noted there seems to be a lot of misinformation, so they will make FAQ’s available on the website. 

How to attend: Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority meets at 11 a.m. on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at Ridge Crest City Hall located at 100 W California Ave., Ridgecrest. You can also watch online via their Youtube channel Live Stream.