If you just read the slick brochures and think of the big victories (Mono Lake, Owens Lake), you might think LADWP is behaving reasonably well. In reality, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power continues its vicious program of environmental destruction against the Owens Valley. It repeatedly violates the intent and letter of the Long Term Water Agreement with Inyo County, causing widespread environmental devastation that negatively impacts vegetation, wildlife, residents, and ranchers.
Prior to groundwater pumping, most of the floor of Owens Valley was an alkali meadow grassland/shrubland with a high water table keeping the vegetation lush despite less than 5 inches of annual rainfall. Imagine the valley floor as a bathtub full of groundwater--it doesn't take much recharge to keep the bathtub full if you aren't taking anything out. The recharge comes from the Sierra Nevada and flows through the ground. Since the pumping began, the water table has declined and lush alkali meadows have retreated to a few areas away from the pumps. The hardest hit areas are mostly barren of grass and look as dry as Death Valley.
Groundwater-dependent grass can be found in areas where the water table is within 2 meters (6.5 feet) of the surface. Groundwater-dependent shrubs can be found in areas where the water table is within 4 meters (13 feet) of the surface. White crust (efflorescent salts from evaporation) can be found where the water table is 8 feet or less (hence the term "alkali meadow". In June 2005, the site in the left photo was beautiful, with good species diversity (including one species of special concern), plenty of insects and life. The site on the right was dead, I saw no insects, and it had invasive non-native weeds, which were the most vigorous-looking plants out there. And this is following a very wet winter (the site on the right usually looks worse).
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As recently as 1984 (1984 baseline vegetation cover is required under the agreement), the site on the right had 50% cover, 75% of which was grass, and looked much more like the site on the left. During the late 1980s excessive pumping dried up nearby monitoring wells. In the late 1990s the water table rebounded and vegetation cover returned. Overpumping in recent years has caused the devastation you see today, in violation of the spirit of the agreement.
The best hope for stopping the destruction is with the new mayor of Los Angeles, who was endorsed by the Sierra Club. He will appoint new Water and Power Commissioners that can decide to abide by the agreement, changing the "litigation is cheaper than water" attitude that allows L.A. to spend more on litigation than Inyo County's entire budget.
The Laws aquifer is managed like an underground reservoir. LADWP fills it in wet years and draws water from it in other years. This management is fine as long as it remains within the limits of the agreement. Pumping must stop when monitoring wells drop and vegetation cover declines below 1984 levels.
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Gregory J. Reis
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