A dispute over groundwater data in eastern Kern County, California, could force the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority to spend up to $300,000 drilling monitoring wells that may already exist nearby.
Here's what to know
Because Rose Valley records have not been provided by the Indian Wells Valley Water District, the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority on Aug. 12 chose to continue a U.S. Navy agreement that would fund two groundwater monitoring wells, according to SJV Water.
The agreement would allow the Navy-Coso Royalty fund to pay up to $300,000 toward drilling two monitoring wells, while the authority would still cover $75,000 in related Stetson Engineers costs. That fund, supported by geothermal operations on Navy property, had been scheduled to expire Aug. 31, 2026.
April Keigwin, general manager of the authority, said Inyo County confirmed that the water district installed monitoring wells in Rose Valley in 2024. The area, just north of the Indian Wells Valley Basin, was identified in the authority's 2020 groundwater plan as a place where groundwater data was lacking.
An information request ultimately produced one well completion report and data from a distribution well, but no monitoring-well data, Keigwin said, according to SJV Water. She made the California Public Records Act request after former water district general manager George Croll told her to use that process when she asked for the information.
More background
The dispute reflects a basic divide between the agencies. The authority says groundwater data is needed to manage an already stressed basin, while the water district says some work in Little Lake and Rose Valley is tied to an ongoing adjudication case.
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Board members challenged that explanation after water district attorney Jim Worth said work in Little Lake and Rose Valley falls under that legal proceeding, according to SJV Water. Their question was why that would keep the district from releasing monitoring-well data.
Authority Chair Phillip Peters pushed back on the idea of rushing into duplicate drilling, arguing that it makes little sense to spend public money if usable information already exists. Board member John Vallejo disagreed.
SJV Water reported that the authority describes the Indian Wells Valley basin as being in critical overdraft and says current pumping is three times the sustainable yield. Delays in sharing data can slow decisions that affect household water reliability and future development.
What's being done?
The authority is keeping its option to drill open rather than moving ahead. Extending the Navy-funded agreement gives officials more time to determine whether the water district will provide more complete monitoring data.
Worth told the board he would check on what information the district might be able to provide, according to SJV Water.
The pressure to secure better information is increasing as new demands emerge. Water Resources Manager Steve Johnson of Stetson Engineers said the authority sent the California Energy Commission a July 15 letter about the proposed Inyokern Artificial Intelligence Data Center, according to SJV Water, warning that the project could put additional strain on already scarce water supplies.
The letter noted that the Inyokern Community Services District is named as the project's water supplier and could exceed its pumping allocation, according to SJV Water. The authority also asked the commission to treat it as an interested party for the project's water-supply evaluation.
One audience member at the authority's meeting offered a blunt summary of the situation: "There's a lot of duplication of efforts by everybody because of the ability to not work together."
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