INYO RESISTS L.A. BID FOR MORE WATER.Byline: James Nash Staff Writer Inyo County officials claim that the head of the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Water and Power Commission is muscling them into allowing more Owens Valley This article has multiple issues: * It needs to be expanded. * It may need copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. water to be pumped to Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, by tying the deal to a local airport lease. Inyo County supervisors say they plan to ask Mayor James Hahn For the Iowa politician, see . James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California to overrule The refusal by a judge to sustain an objection set forth by an attorney during a trial, such as an objection to a particular question posed to a witness. To make void, annul, supersede, or reject through a subsequent decision or action. efforts by DWP DWP Department of Work and Pensions (UK) DWP Drinking Water Program DWP Dynamic Weapon Pricing (gamin, Counter-Strike: Source) DWP Department of Water & Power DWP Drinking Water Protection Commission President Dominick Rubalcava to end the lease for the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport Eastern Sierra Regional Airport (IATA: BIH, ICAO: KBIH, FAA LID: BIH) is a public airport located two miles (3.2 km) north of Bishop, serving Inyo County, California, USA. The airport is mostly used for general aviation. unless they agree to let Los Angeles pump more water. ``He's trying to tie anything going on in the Owens Valley to them getting more water,'' Inyo County Supervisor Butch Hambleton said in a phone interview. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how they can do that. ... Might makes right, and they have all the might right now.'' Rubalcava, however, said it is simply a business deal for a contract on the DWP-owned airport, over which Inyo County officials want more control for increased development. ``This is simply a business deal over the airport,'' Rubalcava said. ``People criticize the DWP all the time for not being run like a business. Yet, when we try to do that, people accuse us of using strong-arm tactics and blackmail.'' Rubalcava said he never laid out a lease-for-water trade, but asked Hambleton what Inyo County officials could bring to the table in negotiating the lease. Hambleton disputed Rubalcava's account, saying the DWP commissioner explicitly demanded more water. Rubalcava said he has yet to hear from Hahn about the issue. Hahn aides said the mayor had no comment. The battle over the airport is the latest in the tortured relationship between Los Angeles and the Eastern Sierra communities from which the city receives about half of its water. The city has been accused of abusing the Eastern Sierra people since Los Angeles began tapping into Owens Valley for its water in 1913. Los Angeles owns about 400 of the 10,140 square miles in Inyo County, including the land for the airport, fairgrounds n. pl. 1. same as fairground. and several parks. The DWP owns the 895-acre airport and leases it to Inyo County for $360 a year. Inyo County officials, hoping for about $1.5 million in federal grants to upgrade the airport and another area airfield, asked the DWP to extend the lease by four years. But they say Rubalcava sabotaged the effort by linking the lease to the DWP's quest to extract more water from Inyo County, which is the largest single source of water for businesses and residents in Los Angeles. Inyo County Supervisor Michael Dorame said Rubalcava was attempting to bully local authorities into releasing more water, despite a 1997 agreement governing the DWP's extraction of Owens Valley water. ``The DWP is the 800-pound gorilla we have on us all the time here,'' Dorame said. ``They own all the land up here. We're just a small colony.'' Rubalcava denied that. ``They came to us and asked us to change our lease on the airport,'' Rubalcava said. ``All I did was ask what they had to offer for it. ``If you're going to change the contract, what do you bring to the table in terms of benefits?'' Rubalcava called Inyo County's demand ``a unilateral, one-sided request that was met with a businesslike response.'' Although the airport lease will not expire for 16 years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control requires at least a 20-year lease to qualify for grants to upgrade airports in Bishop and Lone Pine. Rubalcava said Inyo County officials have resisted DWP attempts to sink groundwater wells deeper into aquifers, which DWP officials say will not significantly affect the water table. But Inyo officials say they worry that the deeper wells still will dry out the Owens Valley. Still smarting from the loss of $1.5 million in federal grants, Inyo County supervisors decided last week to ask Hahn to intervene. They said they plan to send Hahn a letter this week. Sahar Moridani, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said Hahn wouldn't comment on the merits on the merits adj. referring to a judgment, decision or ruling of a court based upon the facts presented in evidence and the law applied to that evidence. A judge decides a case "on the merits" when he/she bases the decision on the fundamental issues and considers of Inyo County's position before seeing the letter. ``We are going to reserve judgment until we receive their letter and hear their issues in their own words,'' Moridani said. City Councilman Tony Cardenas, who chairs a committee overseeing the DWP, said Rubalcava's position makes sense. ``It's DWP's job to find quality water at the lowest price and to use every tool available to do so,'' he said. ``That means coming to the bargaining table with the city of L.A.'s best interest in mind.'' Owens Valley water is virtually free to Los Angeles - electricity generated from water flowing downhill offsets the cost of pumping it later on, according to the DWP's water chief, Gerald Gewe. In contrast, water bought from the Metropolitan Water District costs about $350 per acre-foot, Gewe said. Staff Writer Rick Orlov contributed to this story. James Nash, (213) 978-0390 james.nash(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): map Map: Lone Pine Airport Note: for reference use only, not for planning or navigational use, consult a current AFD for additional information Lone Pine Airport (FAA LID: O26) is a public airport located one mile (1.6 km) southeast of Lone Pine (Geographic coordinates N36-35. Daily News |
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