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1991 EIR and Long Term Water Agreement Origins
In 1913, the City of Los Angeles completed the Los Angeles Aqueduct from the
Owens Valley to Los Angeles. The primary source of water was surface water
diverted from the Owens Valley, and after 1940, to a lesser extent, from the
Mono Basin. In 1970, a second Aqueduct was completed by the City of Los Angeles
that was supplied from three sources: increased surface diversions and
groundwater pumping from the valley and increased surface diversions from the
Mono Basin.
In 1972, the County of Inyo (County) sued the City of Los Angeles under the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to require the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to prepare an Environmental Impact Report
(EIR) on its groundwater pumping to supply the second Aqueduct. LADWP was
ordered to prepare an EIR. LADWP issued EIRs in 1976 and 1979, but both were
found to be legally inadequate.
In the 1980s, the County and LADWP conducted discussions to develop a
cooperative water management plan. Various technical studies were conducted at
that time concerning groundwater and vegetation in the Owens Valley. An interim
agreement was executed in 1984 between the County and LADWP, which called for
more cooperative studies, certain environmental enhancement projects, and
continued negotiations on a long-term agreement. In 1989, a draft of a long-term
agreement was released to the public. In October 1991, the County and LADWP
approved the Inyo County/Los Angeles Long Term Water Agreement (Agreement). The
overall goal of the Agreement is to manage the water resources within Inyo
County "...to avoid certain described decreases and changes in vegetation and to
cause no significant effect on the environment which cannot be acceptably
mitigated while providing a reliable supply of water for export to Los Angeles
and for use in Inyo County."
Subsequently, an EIR was completed by LADWP and the County and issued in 1991
("1991 EIR"). It addressed the impacts of all water management practices and
facilities associated with the second Aqueduct from 1970-1990, and the impacts
of projects and water management practices that would occur after 1990 under the
Agreement. The Agreement committed LADWP and the County to implement the Lower
Owens River Project (LORP). The 1991 EIR and the Agreement were submitted to the
Court with a joint request to end the litigation that commenced in 1972. The
LORP was identified in the 1991 EIR as compensatory mitigation for impacts
related to groundwater pumping by LADWP from 1970 to 1990 that were difficult to
quantify.
[LORP Final EIR/EIS 1.0 INTRODUCTION - 1.1.1 1991 EIR and Long Term Water
Agreement]
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