Water Supply of Indian Wells Valley, California.

The water supply of Indian Wells Valley is finite. Water pumpage and consumptive water use exceeds the natural recharge to the Valley's ground-water supply. In 1984 28,000 acre-feet of water was pumped from the aquifer. This figure presents annual water pumpage increases of 9% above the natural recharge. Domestic wells south and east of the Ridgecrest area are becoming contaminated with poor quality water. This water is flowing into the Ridgecrest area because concentrated pumping is lowering the water table. If the present pumping pattern is continued, saline water from the China Lake playa will migrate into the heavily pumped area in the Ridgecrest and Intermediate Well Fields and will shorten the useful life of the water supply. Currently there is no water crisis. If, however, water is not conserved or alternate water sources developed, only 10 to 20 years' worth of useful water remains in the ground-water budget. (Author)