We received the below from our friends at the Owens Valley Committee about a plan for the re-classification of the Owens River basin from a high-priority to a low-priority basin. This change would allow MORE water to leave our area – with major implications! Please show up this afternoon (Wednesday, August 15) at the Bishop Fire Training Center on E Line St. at 2pm! You don’t have to speak – your presence will speak volumes and will support the Owens Valley Committee and others who are fighting this harmful change.

Owens Valley Groundwater Authority

This is an emergency!  At the OVGA meeting on Wednesday, August 15th, there is a proposal to change the Department of Water Resources classification of our basin from a high priority basin to a low priority basin.  This will have serious implications for the future of the Owens River Subbasin and the Fish Slough Subbasin.  It also opens the door for further transfers from our basin to another basin (the Indian Wells Groundwater Basin).  That has implications for Mono County Leases, because the City of Los Angeles is claiming that everything has to be “water neutral”. It is about the money and work, not about the long term sustainability of our aquifers.  Please write letters, protest, show up and let the OVGA know what you think about this!

We realize this is very short notice, but if you can’t make the meeting, please send your comments to the members of the OVGA by August 20.

County of Inyo: Dan Totheroh

County of Mono: Fred Stump

City of Bishop: Joe Pesci

Big Pine CSD: Bryanna Vaughan

Keeler CSD: John Dukes

Starlite CSD: Daniel Cutshall

Sierra Highlands CSD: John Camphouse

Eastern Sierra CSD: Walt Pachuki

Indian Creek-Westridge CSD: Luis Elias

Wheeler Crest CSD: Glenn Inouye

Tri Valley GWMD: Dave Doonan

 

Below is a copy of OVGA’s proposal.

 

 

Here’s what you can do to help

National

www.raicestexas.org

Provides free and low-cost legal services for underserved immigrant families and children.

https://www.indivisible.org/resource/trumps-new-cruel-immigration-policy/

Contact info and a script to call your representatives about these issues.

www.publiccounsel.org

The nation’s largest pro bono law firm, specializing in protecting the rights of children and immigrants.

Local

www.altrusaes.org/donations

Type “DACA/Citizenship” in the notes field to help local residents.

We all know that Los Angeles came to the Owens Valley 100 years ago and sucked the life out of what was a budding agricultural area. It’s a rite of passage for new residents of the valley to read about the chicanery that took place when DWP’s agents came north looking for “farm land.” And, of course, our most (in)famous export is the particulate matter from Owens Lake. Come learn about all that and where we stand today by joining us at Jill Kinmont Boothe School on Wednesday, June 13 at 6 PM. We’ll have a short INYO350 general meeting, followed by a talk and slide show, “The History of Water in the Owens Valley,” presented by Mary Roper.

Mary is the president of the Owens Valley Committee, formed in 1983 to protect the valley’s land and water resources. Mary’s roots in the valley run deep, from a childhood on the family’s ranch on the south fork of Oak Creek to monitoring dozens of elections as the Inyo County registrar of voters. With the aid of her sister, Inyo County Library Director Nancy Masters, Mary will chronicle the history of water in the valley, from before the first white settlers to the water wars that are continuing to this day. Spoiler alert: LA Still Sucks the Owens Valley Dry!

 

Mining companies are pressuring the state to weaken our strong reclamation standards. The California State Mining and Geology Board will hold a meeting next Wednesday in Sacramento to review the rules applying to open-pit mines. Click here to send a message urging the board to keep California free of the eyesores that plague some of our neighboring states.