Indian Wells Valley Water District (District) 2023 Emergency Release Mitigation Project

Indian Wells Valley Water District (District) 2023 Emergency Release Mitigation Project

The Project is intended to help protect to U.S. Navy facilities at the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) on the China Lake playa from potential flooding and subsidence damage. A secondary potential benefit of the Project is to enhance percolation of the water released from the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Aqueduct) into the Indian Wells Valley groundwater basin (IWV Basin). On or about March 22, 2023, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) filed a Notice of Exemption advising that due to the atmospheric river systems and record-breaking snow fall, LADWP would take “emergency action” including actions to “increase water flows in certain controlled water ways throughout the LAA system”. Five (5) of the discharge gates release flows within the IWV Basin and are shown on Exhibit 6. The southern 3 release gates all ultimately flow into Little Dixie Wash which eventually flows onto the China Lake playa and thus, the potential flooding and subsidence damage. LADWP’s NOE states that they will be seeking outside services to “supplement flood damage minimization efforts”. In this respect, IWVWD staff has been and still is in contact with LADWP advising of the progress of the flows since the releases began in March. Although not retained by LADWP, District efforts should assist in attempting to mitigate any damage to Navy facilities on China Lake. Attached as Exhibit 7 is an April 28, 2023, email from Lori Dermody, Environmental Affairs Officer for LADWP, to the Flood Diversions Department at the State Water Resources Control Board reporting on the status of the releases. The email confirms the releases will last for the next “several months”. Multiple Emergency declarations justifying the needed emergency actions are included as well. A number of temporary sandbag dikes will be hand-placed within the banks of Little Dixie Wash to retard flows generated by emergency releases of excess water from the Los Angeles Aqueduct by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). The proposed locations for the temporary sandbag dikes are indicated on Exhibits 1 through 5. The dikes will be no more than 2 feet high and will be filled and placed by hand. They will be removed after termination of the emergency aqueduct releases. The beneficiaries of the Project are the people of the Indian Wells Valley.

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