Water Wars

News pertaining directly to Trona, Death Valley, the northern Mojave Desert, Inyo County, and adjacent areas.

Water Wars

Postby cactuspete » Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:16 am

California Mojave Desert Town of 1,700 People Could Be Left Dry in Water War
Although the chemical plant has tried to make it sound like the residential water supply could be cut off, this is just misinformation they've made up to scare people living in Searles Valley. Water rates are likely to increase, possibly drastically, but no one is suggesting that residential water be cut off. That's just a scare tactic being used by the chemical plant to get people to complain and make a scene. The truth is that the plant just got a huge gift in the form of royalty reductions. The plant was paying 6% to the local school and the BLM and now it only has to pay 2%. That should save the plant over $5 million per year. The extra it will pay for the water replenishment fee will probably be not much more than that. So, the plant will do just fine unless the increased amount they have to pay per year reaches something over $20 million per year, which is not likely. Lots of doom and gloom, but in reality funds were just shuffled around a little.
https://www.newsweek.com/california-mojave-desert-town-1700-people-could-left-dry-water-war-1632055
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Re: Water Wars

Postby shotgunmary » Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:27 pm

A 7.1 earthquake couldn’t kill this Mojave Desert town. But a water war just might
Residential water is not threatened, but major water users could be in trouble.
Pistachios take up to eight years to mature, and having invested a little more than $37 million, Steifvater is just beginning to see a return. He is not about to stop watering. Nor is his neighbor, fellow grower Paul Nugent, who complains about the “egregious fee structure” that is essentially pricing them out of their water rights. If the groundwater authority “did all they wanted and no one challenged them,” Nugent said, “they would put Mojave Pistachios and Searles Valley Minerals out of business.”

https://www.bakersfield.com/ap/national/a-7-1-earthquake-couldn-t-kill-this-mojave-desert-town-but-a-water-war/article_d7b7484c-5006-59ce-be95-b2ea1ee2c263.html
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Re: Water Wars

Postby cactuspete » Tue Oct 12, 2021 5:52 am

Native American tribes plea for help as Colorado River dries up
Water is a major issue all over the place, not just in Trona and Ridgecrest!
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