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2001 RESOLUTIONS

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FEDERATION OF WESTERN OUTDOOR CLUBS

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RESOLUTION #17: LOWER OWENS RIVER PROJECT

The pumping of ground water in the Owens Valley by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) for the purposes of export between the years 1970 and 1990 inflicted dramatic damage on the vegetation of the valley and dried up many seeps and springs.

When Inyo County and Los Angeles entered into a long-term Ground Water Agreement, environmental groups argued that the document needed additional mitigation for it to be acceptable. In response, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was created involving LADWP, Inyo County, the California Department of Fish and Game, the California State Lands Commission, the Sierra Club, and the Owens Valley Committee that called for the Lower Owens River Project to put water back again into the lower 60 miles of the Owens River. This was to be the primary form of mitigation for the damage being done by the project.

Beginning in the year 2000, there is to be a base flow all year long of 40 cubic feet per second (cfs) from the aqueduct intake to Owens Lake. In years with an average or above average amount of runoff, a simulated spring runoff of up to 200 cubic feet per second for several days was required. The capacity of the pumpback station, which recaptures and returns water to the aqueduct; was set at 50 cfs.

However, LADWP now proposes to triple the size of its pumpback station to 150 cfs in order to capture additional water that would have flowed through the wetland delta of the river and out into Owens Lake, where it is important for migrating and nesting shorebirds, creation of a diverse and self-sustaining riparian ecosystem along the river, and creation of a warm-water fishery.

The Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs: 1) strongly supports the requirement that the Lower Owens River Project recreate 60 miles of desert riparian habitat long the Owens River so as to benefit thousands of migrating songbirds and waterfowl, and 2) calls for the pumpback station of the project to be limited to a capacity of 50 cfs -- as originally agreed to by Inyo County and Los Angeles.

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