Wells well well
MMSA says snowmaking wells in good shape.
Spokespersons for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area presented a united front when asked about water levels in their wells this week, saying they are not concerned about meeting their opening date of Nov. 11, 2015, even this must be accomplished entirely by manmade snow.
“Ever since [our] snowmaking system has gone in we have not missed one of those opening dates,” said Brian Bethke, Manager of Snow Placement at MMSA.
But with California’s crippling drought approaching its fifth year and the Town of Mammoth Lakes currently sitting at Modified Level Three water restrictions, rumors have begun to swirl that MMSA’s wells are in danger of not being able to supply the 40-person Snow Placement team with enough water to keep the resort running without help from above.
Joani Lynch, Communications Director at MMSA, cheerfully said that “the snowmaking pond is sitting at a very nice level right now and certainly well-equipped to handle not only our opening but [keep us] going at the rate we were going last year.”
When asked how many wells were available for snowmaking and their levels, Lynch deferred to Mark Brownlie, COO of MMSA. “It’s so interesting because snowmaking has never been really an issue, something we’ve collected facts on, our groundwater sources, I’d hate to give you misinformation,” she said.
Karl Schnadt, Operations Superintendent of Mammoth Community Water District, spoke to The Sheet about the state of the Town’s groundwater wells, which are not connected to the wells on the Mountain. “[MMSA’s wells are] pretty far away from our wells, so they wouldn’t have a direct correlation or connection … the only fact I know is that our wells have been declining, which should seem fairly obvious considering the drought,” Schnadt said.
Most of MCWD’s nine production wells have declined from 20 to 70 feet during the course of the past “water year,” which ended on September 30.
Schnadt speculated as to why MMSA might be reticent in offering information on their water levels. “I could see they don’t want to cause panic in the community,” he said.
“[Snowmaking is] very crucial and you can understand their position. They’re looking at their water levels and I’m assuming they’re going, ‘If we have to do what we did last year, we can’t. But if we have to make snow for six weeks, we can do that.’ They don’t know and they’re kind of gambling with ‘how do we use our water supplies?’
“I know from my perspective at the water district if we had another repeat of last winter, this coming summer’s restrictions are going to be so severe to keep water in the taps in the houses, outdoor we’ll be at Level Four restrictions just to maintain drinking water …we cannot sustain another year as bad as last year was.”
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area pulls water from what’s known as the Dry Creek Groundwater Basin, whereas the Town of Mammoth Lakes draws its water from the Mammoth Creek Groundwater Basin. MMSA operates five wells within this Groundwater Basin, three of which are utilized exclusively for snowmaking, according to Lauren Burke, Communications Manager. Snowmaking does not require water to be treated, as opposed to Mammoth’s two other “domestic” water wells which flow to taps, and do pass through a treatment facility. Burke said that MMSA also spent approximately $200,000 this summer in improvements to snowmaking systems as an attempt to increase efficiency and decrease water loss.
The Snow Placement Team, run by Bethke, can cover approximately 700 acres and 67 trails with snowmaking alone. Bethke told The Sheet that he had been a part of Mammoth’s snowmaking team since the systems were installed in the late 1980s and has seen many fluctuations over the years, but is hopeful for the coming ski season. “I personally believe in climate change because I’ve seen the changes,” he said. “The last few years have been exceptionally brutal on us.”
“Snowmaking’s been what’s keeping us going the last two years…we call ourselves Snow Placement because we encompass both snowmaking and snow removal…hopefully we don’t need snowmaking [this year] and I can concentrate on keeping the roads open.”
MMSA, by almost anyone’s standards, has done an impressive job of keeping the Mountain running with its industrious program during the drought. “It was fascinating what a good ski season [last year] was, and it was a lot of manmade snow,” said MCWD’s Schnadt. “I was in town [for the infamous winter of] ’76-’77 and the Mountain didn’t open essentially. And the economic impact was there was no business in town … and it was just devastating.”
“We just went through a winter that was worse than ’76-’77 as far as snowfall, and there was pretty darn good skiing up there.”
It was after the calamitous effects of that year that both the community and the Mountain decided that groundwater wells were needed. These wells “saved our skin this year, as the wells on the Mountain saved them last winter,” said Schnadt.
Mammoth residents and those dependent on the Mountain continue to eke water from their saviors, the aquifers below our feet, but there is no denying that levels are dropping statewide without snowmelt to replenish them.
John Regelbrugge, District Ranger for the Inyo National Forest, which oversees MMSA’s permit, echoed Schnadt’s sentiment. “I don’t really want to speculate either but we have been in four years of drought. It’s quite likely that almost everyone’s wells are down,” he said.
“I don’t really have a comment on our groundwater levels,” said MMSA’s Mark Brownlie, but “our snowmaking pond is full and I’m psyched to get going!” He followed this statement with a photo of the pond at McCoy station—full, cobalt blue and shining in the sun.
Brownlie, like everyone in the industry, is still crossing his fingers for the much-anticipated “Godzilla” El Niño that ski towns everywhere pray will be their great emancipator this season. Brian Bethke, also hopeful for a reprieve, said MMSA won’t be holding back on snowmaking until the winter, if it arrives, delivers. “We’re gonna blow snow until we know we have things open, we’re not gonna count our chickens before they’re hatched.”
