The Los Angeles-Inyo County Water Agreement

1 DWP spokesman Chris Plakos as quoted in the Inyo Register, Dec. 4, 2003
2 DWP spokesman Gene Coufal as quoted in the Inyo Register, Dec. 23, 2003
3 DWP Assistant General Manager Gerald Gewe as quoted in the LA Weekly, April 30-May 6, 2004

Introduction

• What's all the fuss about? An Introduction to the Inyo-LA Long Term Water Agreement

Background

Legal and political

• The texts of the Inyo-LA Long Term Water Agreement ( LTWA ) and MOU are available at the website of the Inyo County Water Department .
• The text of the EIR to the LTWA contains much important material clarifying LADWP 's obligations under the LTWA and is now available electronically — Go to www.inyowater.org/documents/governing-documents/water-agreement/ to view it online.
• A brief history of the development of the Water Agreement and MOU
• Definitions of some of the terms, acronyms, and concepts in the LTWA
• Link to the Owens Valley Committee website, which has much information about the LTWA and MOU . The OVC was a party to the MOU (signed in 1997) which was intended to remedy deficiencies in the EIR to the LTWA .

Scientific

• A brief description of groundwater dependent vegetation on the floor of Owens Valley
• Monitoring Owens Valley vegetation and groundwater
• A long term record of groundwater pumping in Owens Valley
• A conceptual diagram of the Owens Valley Aquifer System
• Common Misconceptionsabout pumping and vegetation

Case Studies

• The well test that wouldn't die: testing of wells 380 and 381, 1996 - 2004
• The affair of the enlarged wells
• DWP becomes the Technical Group: jeopardizing Reinhackle Springs

The Problems

In ecological terms

• Excessive Groundwater Pumping
• Inadequacy of the ON/OFF management protocol
• Mitigation projects which cause new, unmitigated impacts

In political terms

• The imbalance of financial and political power between Los Angeles and Inyo County: might makes right
• Excluding the public from the decision-making process: Inyo County as its own worst enemy

In Legal terms

• Evading "avoiding": LADWP 's refusal to acknowledge its obligation to "avoid" significant pumping impacts
• The uncertain fate of the Drought Recovery Policy
• Bad faith

What is Being Lost:

Beauty, biodiversity, meadows, and sinks

• Threatened area #1: Parcels Blackrock 94, 99 and 69
• Threatened area #2: Parcel Blackrock 9
• Threatened area #3: Parcels Tinnemaha 50 & 68
• Threatened area #4: Parcels Laws 85 & 107
• Threatened area #5: Parcel Blackrock 16

The Solution: a dream!

• Letters to write, phone calls to make!
• An educated and engaged public
• A reformed LADWP

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