Photograph courtesy of
Sally Leonard Photography
Welcome to the Warren Valley Basin Watermaster.
History:
The Warren Valley Basin provides a groundwater supply for the community
of Yucca Valley in San Bernardino County, California. The average annual
natural recharge to the basin is approximately 900 acre-feet per year (AFY).
Extractions from the Basin are made by the Hi-Desert Water District (HDWD),
Blue Skies Country Club, Institute of Mentalphysics, and 16 individuals
for small domestic uses.
Concerned about the prospect of not only continuing but even significantly
increasing overdraft, HDWD filed a complaint for adjudication of the groundwater
in 1976. In 1977, the Superior Court for the County of San Bernardino issued
its judgment for adjudication. In the adjudication, the Court recognized
the need to issue groundwater rights in excess of the Basin's safe yield
so that the local economy could support the cost of a solution to the overdraft
problem. Accordingly, overlying rights to the Basin groundwater were issued
to Blue Skies Country Club (585 AFY) and the 16 minimal producers (1 AFY
each); appropriative rights were issued to HDWD (896 AFY) and Yucca Water
Company (726 AFY); and rights of 80 AFY were issued to the Institute of
Mental Physics in the Zone of Transmission between the Warren Valley Basin
and the adjacent basin to the east. In 1990, HDWD acquired the Yucca Water
Company increasing its allotment to 1,622 AFY. To administer the provisions
of the adjudication judgment, the Court appointed HDWD as the Watermaster
for the Basin and ordered that the Watermaster develop a physical solution.
Status:
Currently the Watermaster Board of Directors consists of 8 members: The
5 members from the HDWD Board of Directors, one non-voting representative
from Blue Skies Country Club, one non-voting representative form the Institute
of Mentalphysics and one non-voting representative from the 16 minimal producers.
In accordance with the Watermaster's Rules and Regulations, the Watermaster
Board meets twice per year at the offices of HDWD located at 55439 29 Palms
Hwy. Yucca Valley, CA. 92284.
To find out more about the Warren Valley Basin Watermaster, please contact
the Hi-Desert Water District at 760.365.8333 or e-mail at info@hdwd.com.