The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority (IWVGA) meeting was held on June 18th (nobody watched) and we asked the Kern County Attorney who represents the GA, Mr. Phillip Hall, whether Indian Wells Valley property owners gave up their water rights when they formed the IWV Water District (IWVWD).

Here’s his clear and concise answer: “No”.

We appreciate his forthright answer. Watch the video at 2:05:00

We then asked the IWVGA and Supervisor Mick Gleason to prove the Navy’s assertion that U.S. Navy has superior water rights dating back to 1943, and we reminded Supervisor Gleason that the Navy doesn’t own the land they hold, it’s BLM Public land.

The Navy’s claim that they have Water Rights is doubtful (BS) and should be challenged. Who will do so? Not Supervisor Mick Gleason and the IWVGA

Yes, it’s our land and our water, not the Navy’s, and Supervisor Gleason knows it. The lease runs out in 18 years.

Of course, Mr. Hall, and his client, the Groundwater Authority, don’t want you to know that, or they’d have to sue the Navy in federal court in order to reallocate the Navy’s alleged need for 7,640 acre feet of your water each and every year (at a cost of $2,130 per acre foot, you can do the math for yourself) in perpetuity.

We don’t need a law degree and six months listening to attorney Hall confuse the issues of water rights, and we could read the following to gain further understanding, but we’ll take away an important point and perhaps the water rights issue will become more clear to all of you:

Defining water rights: by prescription or negotiation?
Francois Molle (Page 215):

More generally, whether the definition of allotments will be equitable will depend greatly upon the degree of democracy in the decision-making process, on how representative are the different stakeholders and of the information made available (in particular on hydrology).

There’s that word again. Democracy. And it comes from an international perspective (not prescriptive).

This hasn’t been a democratic process and it will never be democratic. Why would we destroy our property values?

The Navy is reserving allocation they don’t need based on a history of usage from a time when everyone lived on the base and the bermuda grass was growing everywhere. They only recently stopped the waste and let the grass go dry. Hopefully they’ll spend some of that $3.1 billion replacing 3,000 (?) old leaking toilets. Don’t hold your breath. They want more water allocated for future growth. That ain’t gonna happen.

The problem is the IWVGA doesn’t have any money to sue the Navy and that would be un-American. Maybe the Bureau of Land Management will but they’re on the same team. Therefore the Navy and IWVGA conspire to steal your water rights using a process called “regulatory capture”. Of course, it’s all in the interest of national security and conservation and they’ll continue to remind us that they are a “good neighbor” and good stewards of the land. Indeed.

The Navy and the Groundwater authority are blowing smoke up your ass and you don’t even know it because most everyone in this community is compromised or afraid to offend their masters.

We’ll keep asking questions and remind everyone of Navy’s Legacy in the Indian Wells Valley. Hint: It’s shameful. We’ll write more on that later.

Mistakes made in the past can’t be corrected without the Navy’s help, and they’re not helping you one bit. It doesn’t matter if the Navy has water rights or not. Let the attorneys fight it out. We’ll be paying for this mess from here to eternity.

The opinions expressed herein are solely the Publisher’s.

12/11/2021: Edited-out unnecessary and abrasive comments. MS