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Water dispute may get more hostile as the long-standing adjudication case in the Antelope Valley continues

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 12, 2008 at 11:07 am

From the Antelope Valley Press:

Hostility is likely to grow worse between farmers and public water providers as the Antelope Valley groundwater adjudication case rages on unless all parties can reach an amicable solution, one Valley alfalfa rancher says.

In order to achieve satisfactory results for everyone, Lancaster alfalfa rancher Gene Nebeker has asked the Palmdale Water District board of directors to “minimize the role of lawyers and technical advisers” in the adjudication, which has dragged on nearly a decade.

The legal snarl began in October 1999 when Diamond Farming Co. filed suit against Lancaster, the Antelope Valley Water Co., the Palmdale Water District and three other water purveyors. Since then, hundreds of entities and individuals have joined the suits and counter-suits.

People lack confidence, Nebeker told the board, that “the judge or any court” could arrive at a knowledgeable ruling to establish equitable groundwater pumping rights.

“They will come knocking at your door, incredibly angry, if they realize your board will set them back to less than 50% of their pumping,” Nebeker said.

In a show of unity, members of the Los Angeles County Farm Bureau and other landowners packed the water district boardroom on Wednesday night as Nebeker presented their position to the board. He said farmers and other landowners, whether or not within the water district boundaries, will be adversely impacted by this case, especially if limited to half of their current pumping capacity.

Nebeker estimates that between 150,000 and 160,000 acre-feet of water gets pumped from the ground each year; others in the Valley put the figure closer to 120,000 acre-feet. Each acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, the amount of water used in an average Antelope Valley home in one year.

The alfalfa rancher wants his estimate used as a basis for the adjudication equation, and then raised or lowered depending on data gathered from a monitoring system.

He admonished the water district for joining forces with a group dubbed Public Water Suppliers, which includes the Quartz Hill Water District, Littlerock Creek Irrigation District and Rosamond Community Services District. Nebeker claims the group has waged battle with or will initiate a lawsuit against the owners of 190,000 parcels of land in the Valley.

More from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.

In a related story also from the Antelope Valley Press, farmers are infuriated that their water might be cut 50%:

Half the normal amount of water to grow crops means half the yield at harvest, which amounts to a 50% financial loss, according to some Antelope Valley farmers. They worry their livelihood will take a huge hit if the judge’s determination in the Antelope Valley groundwater adjudication case favors the counties, cities and water suppliers such as the Palmdale Water District.

Julie and Gailen Kyle raise hay and alfalfa on nearly 1,600 acres at several sites on the east side of Palmdale and Lancaster. Richard Miner grows alfalfa and hay on 400 acres in the Willow Springs area of Kern County. They’ve heard talk that once the court rules on groundwater rights, they will be restricted to 50% of their current pumping capacity. “If you cut my water in half, you cut my income in half,” said Gailen Kyle, whose family has farmed in the Antelope Valley for 75 years.

Though Miner’s “hay operation” is about a quarter the size of the Kyles’, he said his concerns are just as significant. Miner has been working his farm on Tehachapi Springs Road since 1975. Each year he uses an average of 7 acre-feet per acre of groundwater to grow alfalfa. For 400 acres, that totals roughly 2,800 acre-feet of water in a year. An acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, the amount used in the average Antelope Valley home in one year.

Julie Kyle said they use about the same amount of water per acre each year as Miner does but have nearly four times the land.

“If the cities think the farmers will accept a 50% cut, this (adjudication) will go on a long time,” Gailen Kyle said.

Read the rest of this story from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.

July 12, 2008 · Filed Under Antelope Valley, Groundwater

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