On October 12, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to limit its responsibility for dust storms originating from the dry bed of Owens Lake.
The suit initiates litigation against the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, the California State Lands Commission, the California Air Resources Board, the United State Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States Bureau of Land Management.
Mono Lake Committee Executive Director Geoff McQuilkin commented: “The Department of Water & Power case appears to be focused on air pollution mitigation at Owens Lake; however, similar air quality regulations also apply at Mono Lake, which is also a major national source of particulate air pollution as a result of past water diversions. The Mono Lake Committee is carefully reviewing the filing by DWP to determine what the implications are, if any, for the well-established air quality attainment plans underway at Mono Lake.”
Why am I not surprised? They made a deal — negotiated between the parties. And now they do not want to complete their side of the agreement. DWP continues to think they are omnipotent and will try to litigate their opponents into submission.
A deal with DWP is only good as long as they choose to comply with it.
Bureaucracies have no memory. Even if an agreement was negotiated in good faith by one administrator or administration, changes in staff make for changes in values. That’s why its important to have a strong and accountable legal system. Urban areas are having hard times now and want to shift limited funds away from responsibilities they feel are remote from their immediate priorities. Little does DWP realize the “immediacy” of their responsibility to the dry Owens Lake and the consequences if they ignore it.