In January, Councilmen Blades and Hayman attempted to move discussions regarding the GA to a committee which would further obscure the actions of the groundwater authority from the public record. And now, they’ve taken the Groundwater Authority off the Agenda entirely. How that for transparency and openness?

Here’s my report on the IWV Groundwater Authority provided to the residents of Ridgecrest as a public service.

It’s been four years since the Indian Wells Valley Water District was forced to commence a comprehensive adjudication lawsuit for the IWV’s groundwater basin, and on June 1st, the second phase of the trial is set to begin.

The GA is doing everything they can to avoid adjudication of the science, including the fiasco of last year concerning the legislation called AB 1413. All of the depositions have been completed by this week, including a deposition by Steve Johnson of Stetson Engineers.

Phase Two of the trial will result in a decision by Judge William D. Claster of the Superior Court in Orange County which will settle the hydrogeologic science behind the Groundwater Authority’s claim that the basin is in critical overdraft, including the Safe Yield, which the GA estimates is only 7,650-acre feet per year.

The GA has prepared the 2025 Annual Water Report and will be sending it to DWR by April 1st. This year’s report shows that total pumping in the IWV has been reduced to approximately 20,500 acre feet with no undesirable results, no subsidence in the IWV and no wells running dry that require mitigation by the GA.

As you will recall, back in April of last year, Councilman Scott Hayman and City Manager Ron Strand, together with Councilman Blades, took a trip to Sacramento as part of a “legal strategy” on behalf of the GA. They were carrying a letter, signed by Blades as Mayor Pro Tem, which misrepresented that the City of Ridgecrest supported AB 1413. This legislation was written in part by attorneys working for the IWV Groundwater Authority, including City Attorney Keith Lemieux and Kern County Deputy Counsel Phill Hall.

In short, the GA is a mess. Phill Hall, the Kern County counsel has been removed from the GA and is no longer employed by Kern County. Kern County has failed to provide a counsel as is required by the Joint Powers Agreement and is in default.

Mr. Hall reappeared months later and has joined the law firm of City Attorney Keith Lemieux. He did sit on the dais in January and was as condescending as always, and he hasn’t been seen since.

Apparently, someone has decided it’s better to discontinue having the GA on the regular Agenda due to “legal jeopardy” created when the members of the City Council open their mouths.. I’m sure they’d all like you to forget the sequence of events that began back in April 2025 along with everything that’s gone wrong since then.

Mayor Endicott and Councilman Blades have apparently been removed from all matters involving the GA as a result of their conflict of interest with the Navy. It’s about time.

General Manager Carol Thomas-Keiffer has been replaced by the GA’s clerk, April Keigwin.

Stantec has disappeared as a subcontractor to Provost and Pritchard as quickly as it took them to submit an incomplete Environmental Assessment and now the GA has to resubmit their application to the BLM to restart the review.

The GA has collected nearly $20 million dollars from the Water District in the form of replenishment fees. As of the last meeting, not one drop of Table “A” water has been purchased by the GA.

The AVEK pipeline project has only recently completed the 60% design stage, and Provost and Prichard has obtained a contract extension through the end of this year with the goal of reaching 100% completion at years end. The design cost is now expected to be over budget and in excess of $7 million.

The GA hired another consultant to assist in negotiations for the pipeline right of way.

The GA recently hired a PR firm which promptly and prematurely announced a settlement with Searles Valley Minerals. When the Settlement was finally signed, the GA proclaimed victory. It was not. Searles gave up nothing except the right to participate in the Phase Two portion of the trial. It was a pyrrhic victory for Searles. They don’t have to pay Replenishment Fees, and they don’t have to buy recycled water from the city’s yet-to-be-built wastewater treatment facility.

Now they won’t need to, the GA has done their part in forcing Searles to shut down over half their operations and they will be laying off over half of their employees. Thanks to the Ridgecrest City Council and the City attorney, those jobs won’t be coming back, and Ridgecrest may lose over a thousand residents. The layoffs are set to begin in April.

And that concludes the IWV Grounwater Report for this meeting.

Past Controversy