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Candidates clash over groundwater, SGMA and an imported water project for Ridgecrest
Summary
At the Ridgecrest forum, challenger Travis Endicott said rival factions are not talking; Mayor Eric Bruin defended the community’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and singled out agriculture as a major water user.
Water dominated a lengthy section of the Ridgecrest mayoral forum, with candidates disagreeing about local disputes, technical studies and the path to long‑term supply.
Water is central to Ridgecrest’s planning and development. Candidates said the outcome of groundwater policy will affect future housing, agriculture and the city’s finances.
Travis Endicott, a mayoral candidate, framed the problem as a breakdown in communication: “We have 2 different groups who are talking at each other instead of talking with each other,” he said, adding that the disagreement over basic facts and models prevents progress.
Eric Bruin, the incumbent mayor, placed the issue in the state‑policy context and cited the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014 and the city’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP). “We live in a desert,” Bruin said. He said SGMA forced a new approach and that local action prevented a state takeover. Bruin said the GSP and an imported water project have broad support: “All 4 levels of government are agreed on the GSP and the imported water project. The feds, state, county, and local.”
Bruin argued that agriculture uses far more water than the city and the base combined, saying, “That agriculture drinks 3 times as much water as the entire city of Ridgecrest, the water district, and the base combined annually.” He urged settlement negotiations and criticized litigation and public messaging that, in his view, overstated certain cost estimates.
Bruin also criticized what he called selective media and consultant claims, saying a widely cited $3,000 figure was “made up” and that some models referenced in public debate had not released underlying data.
Endicott emphasized public engagement and discourse, saying more people at council meetings and open forums would help move the community forward rather than relying solely on litigation or consultant disputes.
Neither candidate outlined a specific, new municipal action at the forum; Bruin described ongoing closed‑session negotiations and said the community is close to an imported water project but did not provide a financing schedule at the forum.
The transcript used the term “Sigma” repeatedly; the state statute name is the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), passed in 2014, which candidates referenced as the driver of the GSP requirement.
