LADWP wants new wells

At the Inyo County Water Commission monthly meeting held in Bishop on Monday, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s plan to put in three new production wells and replace an 87-year old well in Laws was not well-received, especially during a time when “record-breaking drought” is the operative word throughout the state of California.

Expressing disbelief at the timing of LADWP’s plan, Commissioner Craig Patten said, “We have to be ready as a county to pull the trigger;” a feeling echoed by all the commission members.

Yet, not all may be as it appears.

In a follow-up phone call with Inyo County Water Department Director Dr. Bob Harrington, he noted that the wells planned are actually allowed under the 1991 Long Term Water Agreement which allows for 15 new and replacement wells.

Although included in the 1991 Environmental Impact Report, any plans LADWP has will still have to be brought before the Technical Group which includes representatives from both the County of Inyo and LADWP. They will do a pre-construction evaluation, which according to Harrington’s presentation to the Water Commission, allows the group decision-making authority over whether a new well can be constructed and whether it is an imposition on water rights.” Harrington says decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.

There has not apparently been a formal request made to the county from LADWP at this time for a Technical Group Review.

“It is important to understand that both DWP and the county agreed (in 1991) that these wells could go in,” says Harrington, “That said,” he continued, “given the drought conditions it is kind of bad timing, especially for the Bishop wells considering all the issues we have had with over the past few years in West Bishop.”

While The Sheet reached out to the local LADWP Public Information Office, there was not enough time for a response before the paper’s deadline. A statement will likely be forthcoming.

The county does surveys to determine how much water DWP pumps annually and uses on leases on the Bishop Cone to evaluate whether or not the DWP is exceeding its allowed groundwater extraction under the Hillside Agreement. Harrington says LADWP is actually several thousand acre-feet below the cap of what it can pump.

So what then would be the purpose of the two new DWP wells in West Bishop? It is likely that, because DWP cannot extract more water from the Bishop Cone (both pumped groundwater and flowing wells out along the river) than it uses, the two new wells would allow DWP to come closer to what they are allowed to pump under Hillside Decree.

Again, the water has to be used on the Bishop Cone. It is not for export to Los Angeles.

The new well proposed for Big Pine in Bell Canyon is supposed to supply water to the Big Pine Improved Ditch System and, according to Harrington, the Big Pine well would require a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) document.

“These are not hair on fire aqueduct export wells,” says Harrington, noting that the wells were committed to a long time ago to apply to certain uses within the valley. However, he concedes that the visuals of drilling equipment in West Bishop and the concern that there might be some issues arising that might affect existing wells in West Bishop cannot be discounted.

The new well planned in Big Pine is also covered in the Long Term Water Agreement, which allows water to go into the ditch system. Constructed by local group, the water is currently diverted out of Big Pine Creek.  The LTWA provided that the water use in the ditch system to be made-up to LADWP using a well west of Big Pine.

Harrington said that the existing situation shouldn’t be allowed to go on for too long as the Big Pine Ditch has been accruing a deficit of water owed to LADWP.  That water is supposed to be made up someday with a well west of Big Pine and not through diversion from Big Pine Creek.

Tribal representatives in Big Pine have expressed reservations on how the new well proposed in Bell Canyon might affect the tribe’s water supply.