Press release from the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority:
Through its adjudication efforts filed in 2021 against all water users in the Indian Wells Valley basin, the Inland Wells Valley Water District has opened the door for Meadowbrook Dairy and Searles Valley Minerals to challenge the federal reserved water rights of the Navy’s Air Weapons Station China Lake.
The lawsuit poses significant risks and threatens water rights stability in the region that affects the Navy, the residents of Ridgecrest, agriculture and industry.
The adjudication lawsuit is a tactic for the water district to claim more water rights after a Groundwater Sustainability Plan approved by the state in 2022 found that the total sustainable yield for the Indian Wells basin is only 7,650 acre-feet per year – considerably less than the roughly 20,000 acre-feet per year that is being overdrafted today.
“The water district’s adjudication lawsuit was filed without verifiable evidence and has a negative rippling effect that impacts water ratepayers,” said Scott Hayman, chair of the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority. “Regardless of however the district tries to position it to the public, there is no possible scenario in which water ratepayers will be better off if the lawsuit proceeds. The only entity that stands to benefit from this costly legal exercise is Meadowbrook Dairy if they successfully secure more water rights and then sell back to the water district, with costs passed on to their customers.”
The adjudication process brought forth by the water district will lead to higher costs for water access and management, and because the district is a member of the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority, the district’s customers will ultimately pay both sides of the legal costs that will be in the millions if litigation continues.
Threat to Federal Reserved Water Rights
One of the most concerning aspects of the water district’s lawsuit is that it allows Meadowbrook Dairy and Searles Valley Minerals to challenge the federal reserved water rights held by the Navy. These rights are crucial for the operations and national security missions conducted at the Naval Air Weapons Station.
Meadowbrook Dairy’s decision to go after the Navy is a reversal from having previously agreed and signed in to a transient pool of water that would allow agricultural users to eventually cease pumping groundwater from the basin. Agriculture is the largest user of water and a primary reason behind the severe overdraft of the Indian Wells Valley basin.
“By challenging the Navy’s water rights, Meadowbrook is taking on the largest employer in Ridgecrest and, in fact, the customers of the water district,” said Hayman. “Meadowbrook had already agreed to stop pumping groundwater after its allotment of the transient pool was used up but through the adjudication, the district gave Meadowbrook a path to monetize water rights at the expense of water customers who will be paying for it for years to come.”
The Navy’s federal reserved water rights supersede other water rights – giving it first rights through the adjudication process. The amount of water that remains after the Navy receives its rights within the sustainable yield numbers, will be divided up by the other water rights holders in the basin. Contrary to disinformation, the Navy is not the largest user of water in the basin. Agriculture is the largest user of water followed by urban, industrial, and only then, the Navy and other domestic users.
Regardless of the Water Model, Numbers Can’t Support Current Pumping Levels
No one is questioning that the Indian Wells Valley basin has been overdrafted for decades. Everyone agrees there must be a plan to manage water resources responsibly. The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority developed that Groundwater Sustainability Plan after robust technical analysis of the basin and key input from stakeholders that included the water district, agriculture, business interests, the Navy, well owners, the bureau of land management, the conservation district, and residents.
The GSP model determined the sustainable yield in the basin to be 7,650 acre-feet per year, and this determination is consistent with the findings of 12 other independent basin studies over the last 53 years. Despite previously approving the GSP, the water district, along with large water users in the basin that included Meadowbrook Dairy, created their own Technical Working Group and funded a separate study published in 2024 that claimed a safe yield of 14,300 acre-feet per year using a preliminary water model.
Legal proceedings underway require the water district to provide the model used to substantiate their numbers. In February 2025, they missed a critical deadline to submit the model in court. They stated that the model has not been finalized and needed more time; however, the judge called them out for not having the model ready and possible bias (this can be read in the court transcripts).
Regardless of whether 7,650 or 14,300 acre-feet per year is used to determine the sustainable yield, extreme overdrafting of the basin is continuing as the estimated pumping reported by all key stakeholders in 2024 is 20,840 acre-fee per year. The overdraft is 13,190 acre-feet per year using the GSP model or 6,540 using an unverifiable model from the largest water pumpers in the basin. The table below breaks down water use by sector.
The Groundwater Authority remains committed to implementing sustainable solutions to manage the region’s water resources and asks the water district to end its litigation efforts and reengage in the GSP implementation process to protect the valley’s water not just for private interest, but for the entire community for generations to come.
About the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority: The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority (IWVGA) is the groundwater sustainability agency for the critically overdrafted Indian Wells Valley groundwater basin. The basin spans portions of Kern, Inyo, and San Bernardino Counties. It is home to the City of Ridgecrest and the U.S. Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, a critical low-flight, weapons development, and testing facility. The groundwater basin serves approximately 38,000 residents.
IWVGA is a joint powers authority that includes representatives from Kern County, the City of Ridgecrest, Inyo County, San Bernardino County, and the Indian Wells Valley Water District. Two federal agencies, the United States Navy and the Bureau of Land Management, are also represented as ex-officio members of the IWVGA Board.
