RIDGECREST, Calif. (March 3, 2025) – There is a deceptive strategy that involves using litigation for the sole purpose of distracting and confusing the public. This is exactly what Searles Valley Minerals is doing when the company filed a lawsuit last month claiming the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority (IWVGA) is withholding public information regarding groundwater sustainability claims.
As part of their strategy to delay and obfuscate the critical need to address the critically overdrafted Indian Wells Basin, Searles has already joined the Indian Wells Valley Water District in lawsuits challenging the U.S. Navy water rights and the scientific facts behind groundwater models. This new lawsuit claims that the Groundwater Authority is purposely withholding data from the public.
“The lawsuit and the argument that we are withholding data is unfounded,” said Scott Hayman, chair of the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority. “At question is the Groundwater Sustainability Plan created over many years to fix our groundwater problem. As a public agency, the IWVGA was required by law to develop this extensive document, which covers a wide variety of topics, including the region’s geology and hydrology, historical and current conditions. It also includes detailed information on the models and the methods used to arrive at a decision to import water into the basin before it runs out of water in 40 years.”
This Groundwater Sustainability Plan –- a public document that has been posted on the IWVGA website since it was adopted in 2020 -– has been approved by the U.S. government, the state government (including the California Department of Water Resources), Kern County, Inyo County, San Bernardino County, the Indian Wells Valley Water District and the City of Ridgecrest.
As a public document, the GSP is not only available to the public along with Frequently Asked Questions, but there is a link to the sustainability study on which much of the analysis was based. This study was conducted (at the request of the U.S. Navy) by the University of Nevada’s Desert Research Institute, one of the world’s most respected environmental research institutions.
“Searles Valley Minerals knows all of this,” said Hayman, who represents the City of Ridgecrest as part of the IWVGA, which is also composed of elected representatives from three counties and the Indian Wells Valley Water District. “Self-interest is motivating their legal action. There is an expense to importing water to the basin, and as a large water user, Searles wants to delay this expense as long as possible — regardless of the effect it has on Ridgecrest, the Navy, or other businesses or farmers.”
Searles Valley Minerals, a large industrial water user that mines minerals in the community of Trona and uses water to process brine, was a member of the Policy Advisory Committee that worked with the IWVGA in its development of groundwater solutions. They were also part of a Technical Advisory Committee that allowed its members to review and evaluate technical elements of the Groundwater Sustainability Plan before its completion.
Despite this plan completed and approved in 2020 – with initial federal funding secured, and planning and permitting underway for the Indian Wells Valley Water Replenishment Pipeline to be built — Searles is now using a lawsuit to accuse the IWVGA of purposely concealing relevant data.
There is no motivation to hide numbers or information on this critical issue. The IVWGA is not a water user, but an agency created to pursue a highly focused mission: provide sustainable groundwater management and long-term water security for the Indian Wells Valley to ensure local economic stability. That includes helping maintain the viability of the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, a major economic engine for the area.
The IWVGA, established by state law, has no choice but to defend its integrity and the Groundwater Sustainability Plan in the courts. The agency encourages Searles Velley Minerals to be a participatory partner in this process.
