RIDGECREST, Calif. (July 31, 2025) – A preliminary ruling limiting the federal reserved water rights at U.S. Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake does not change the actual water use estimates being used in groundwater management; however, it does have the potential to decrease the allocation and increase the costs of groundwater for the Indian Wells Valley Water District.
This is according to the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority, the state-mandated agency responsible for managing the 597 square mile Indian Wells Valley groundwater basin. While not responsible for determining water rights, the Authority did support the Navy’s federal reserved rights claim in excess of 6,500 acre-feet per year (AFY) of water.
The preliminary ruling limits China Lake to 2,008 acre-feet of groundwater per year.
In the Authority’s groundwater sustainability plan, it had previously assumed that the Navy would need 2,041 AFY for its on-base needs, and this ruling is not expected to change that assumption. The ruling does, however, open the door for plaintiffs Searles Valley Minerals and Meadowbrook Dairy Real Estate to further litigate for a larger share of water rights, which will almost certainly come at the expense of the Water District and smaller water users.
“We have always maintained that it is not our role to determine water rights, but we will support the scientific and legally supported claims to groundwater from the key water pumpers in the valley,” said Scott Hayman, chair of the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority. “Given we were always looking at the Navy’s water use at about 2,000 AFY, it doesn’t change the stated need within the groundwater sustainability plan to bring in imported water to ensure viability of the basin for future generations.”
According to the Authority, this ruling and the adjacent adjudication efforts are costly distractions from what should be a collaborative effort to bring an alternative water source to the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Basin.
“The only winners here are private interest that want more water at the expense of the residents and businesses of Ridgecrest,” said Hayman. “Meadowbrook Dairy stands to benefit from this costly legal exercise to successfully secure more water rights and then sell them back to the water district, with costs passed on to water district customers.”
