Council hears update on Indian Wells Valley adjudication; court to appoint special master

The council received a detailed summary of the Indian Wells Valley groundwater adjudication’s phase‑2 trial, including testimony from hydrologists and groundwater modelers and the court’s decision to appoint a special master to assist with technical review.

The presenter told council members the court initially resisted appointing an independent technical reviewer but, after cross‑examination exposed weaknesses in some expert testimony and modeling choices, concluded an independent expert review was necessary. Experts for the Navy and the Groundwater Authority supported a lower safe‑yield estimate (7,650 acre‑feet per year), while witnesses for the large‑pumping water district and associated parties offered much higher estimates; cross‑examination that focused on historical base‑period selection and model calibration materially altered some estimates.

Notable trial moments included the judge striking the testimony of a water‑district hydrogeologist after questions about whether he could explain modeling techniques; cross‑examination also showed that the large‑pumper analysis relied on a wet 10‑year period that, when expanded to a longer period, produced much lower safe‑yield figures. In subsequent weeks the court will request a list of qualified experts from the California State Water Resources Control Board and select a special master; the special‑master review is expected to take several months and could substantially affect future basin management decisions.

What happens next: Parties will prepare closing briefs and the court will select a special master; the council will monitor progress because a court determination of safe yield could affect local groundwater policy and intergovernmental projects.