Region: South Lahontan

From the Ridgecrest Independent:

“The IWV Water District water management committee touched on a number of items Thursday afternoon, including the results from the July 19 IWV Groundwater Authority meeting.

Both the committee members and the public voiced concerns about the costs associated with studies being conducted for the required groundwater sustainability plan.

Resident Judie Decker noted how Stetson Engineers and its president Steve Johnson, the company retained as the Groundwater Authority’s water resources manager, presented at a technical advisory committee a study of the infrastructure on how to collect wastewater from septic systems for treatment. … “

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From the Ridgecrest Independent:

“Stetson Engineers, the firm acting as water resources manager for the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority, outlined progress and a timeline on a required groundwater sustainability plan during a July 19 meeting.

According to Steve Johnson, Stetson Engineers’ president, elements of the plan go to the Groundwater Authority’s technical advisory committee and its policy advisory committee, which is tasked with looking through it and making recommendations to the water resources manager.

Jeff Helsley, with Stetson, said that in the next six to eight weeks, the Groundwater Authority may have an introductory chapter before the committee, followed by more committees later on. … “

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From the Ridgecrest Independent:

How exactly the IWV Groundwater Authority’s technical advisory committee operates was set clear on Thursday — at least as defined from a legal perspective, according to Keith Lemieux, the Authority’s 2018 legal counsel.

Questions and concerns have been fielded at several Groundwater Authority meetings over the TAC’s function allows, especially whether the committee can vote on items or take action.

Lemieux said he received questions about whether the committee can take action and what tasks it does at its meetings.  “It’s a fair question because unlike the other committee we have in the bylaws, the TAC is a very unusual animal,” Lemieux said.

Continue reading at the Ridgecrest Independent here:  Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority technical advisory committee processes discussed

From the Ridgecrest Independent:

The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority board voted 3-1 to formally adopt an ordinance imposing a monthly volumetric groundwater extraction fee on major pumpers at its Thursday meeting.

Ridgecrest Mayor Peggy Breeden voted no, as directed by the city council on Wednesday. Inyo County’s representative was not present. San Bernardino County representative Bob Page voted by telephone conference.

The fee will impose a fee of $30 per acre-foot pumped on major pumpers in the valley, including the IWV Water District, Searles Valley Minerals, and agricultural interests. The fee aims to fill a $930,000 budget gap in the development of a groundwater sustainability plan required by the Department of Water Resources by Jan. 31, 2020.

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