PUB00133

• Year: 1990
• Title: Western Water Transfers: Public Interest Impacts
• CWCB Section: Interstate & Federal
• Author: Larry Morandi
• Description: Examination of the public interest impacts of western water transfers
• Publications - Doc Type: Historical

process--which may have been fostered by the city's recognition that the 1983 state supreme
court Mono Lake decision could restrict its water use on "public trust" grounds--and final
settlement illustrate the incorporation of public interest criteria into a water allocation
decision.

A preliminary agreement between Inyo County and Los Angeles on a long-term
groundwater management plan was released on March 31,1989, as required by the court.
The plan's objective is to "create no significant adverse impact in the Owens Valley which
cannot be avoided or acceptably mitigated, while providing a reliable supply of water for
export to Los Angeles and for use in the Owens Valley.4 Since Inyo County's principal
concern was receding vegetation, the two parties agreed to jointly operate a monitoring
programnthe guts of the agreement--that would measure groundwater levels and soil
moisture to determine when wetlands might be affected by groundwater pumping. The
plan established five vegetation classifications with a targeted management strategy for
each.5

~ ..-

In addition to groundwater.management policies, the plan contained what might be
termed financial mitigation components. Los Angeles agreed in principle to:
o Spend up to $2 million over the next ten years for local parks,
campgrounds, and recreational facilities (the valley's economy is
increasingly becoming more dependent on recreation and less on
agriculture ),
Fund a $750,000 three-year salt cedar reduction program.

o

o

Contribute $100,000 for the rehabilitation of the Big Pine irrigation
ditch system.
Pay the county $1 million annually "to assist the county in providing

o

services to its citizens."

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