But when members of the Inyo-L.A. Standing Committee talked about maybe taking a stand on that issue, their concern was cut off quickly by legal questions and an outraged member of the public who said it would be irresponsible to disrupt the long, complicated LORP plans just because of a possible negative impact on one person.

The 62 river miles of the re-watered Lower Owens River are sprouting greenery faster than anticipated, which has given many areas of the ?new? river the look of a well-established waterway. Photo by Jon Klusmire

Other than the debate, sometimes heated, over the impacts of the pulse flow on Scott Kemp’s lease land and herd of cattle, the committee praised the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power for getting the elements of the LORP in place and moving. In addition, it appears the old, dry riverbed is coming to life quicker than first estimated, with signs of greenery, schools of fish and other flora and fauna appearing along the riverbanks and flood plain sooner than expected.
The river is now displaying “an incredible explosion of life,” said David Nahai, president of the L.A. Board of Water and Power Commissioners, who also called the revival of the river “magical,”  and even almost “Biblical.” Nahai noted that “nature had proven itself” as both patient and resilient. 
The big pulse flow being planned is supposed to give nature a little help in clearing out the old, shrunken river channel and moving the project along. Resident Harry Williams was clearly angry when he told the committee that the pulse flow and the resulting benefits of the LORP to Lone Pine and the entire county far outweighs any potential losses absorbed by Kemp.
“I feel for him, but I don’t feel sorry for him,” Williams said of Kemp and his grazing dilemma.
Williams added that it would be “out of bounds” for the committee to change the huge and highly complex LORP project “for just one person.”
Kemp told the committee  the one negative from the first year’s operation of the new river would be that, in his opinion, the 200 cubic-feet-per-second pulse flow would come down the river in December and flood his grazing lease, and force him to buy hay for up to 600 head of cattle. Plus, the soggy ground could also force him to move his cattle to other pastures. Typically, Kemp’s cattle are in residence on the valley floor all winter.
Kemp estimated that if he could not graze his herd on his lease land north and south of Lone Pine, just feeding them an estimated 1,000 tons of hay could cost $200,000.
“We’re going to do everything we can do to stop it,” Kemp said of the mandated 200 c.f.s. pulse flow.
The big flow is a firm condition of a permit issued to LADWP from the Lahontan Water Quality District, which was one of many permits LADWP had to acquire as part of the LORP project.
Obtaining that water quality permit was not a simple matter, said Gene Coufal, LADWP Aqueduct Business Group manager. He said the negotiations over the permit resulted in both sides making “concessions.”    
But Lahontan would not concede anything when it came to the initial, 200 c.f.s. pulse flow, which has long been part of the LORP management plan. The large flow was designed to essentially flush debris, dirt and other accumulated clutter out the river channel. 
Nahai and Inyo County Supervisor Jim Bilyeu both seemed to agree that maybe the Standing Committee should write a letter to Lahontan about the situation and ask the agency to either “reassess” or “re-evaluate” the large flush flow.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry objected and said if anything, the Standing Committee should put the matter on a future agenda. Then LADWP and county staffs could prepare reports and provide data on the issue, and allow public comments on the issue.
After Williams blasted the entire letter-writing idea and any consideration that would further  delay any part of the LORP, Nahai backed off taking any action.
Nahai said the committee couldn’t legally take any action unless the item was on the agenda, and also noted that the LORP and the 200 c.f.s. flow were subject to a court order that limited changes to the project.
“All we can do is talk” at this point about the impacts to Kemp, he noted.
Coufal said the LADWP staff “will talk to Scott and see if we can work through” his concerns about the flooding and any costs he might incur.
Kemp leases the pasture in question from LADWP, and Williams noted that, if anything, the whole grazing question was a matter that only involved Kemp and LADWP, not the rest of the county or the LORP in general. Everyone involved in the LORP was aware of the planned large flow, noted Williams, and it was too late now to change the plan.  
“Lahontan was very aware of the grazing issues,” said Brain Tillemans, the LADWP watershed specialist in charge of LORP. The reason Lahontan mandated the flow to take place in December was to limit the potential for a major fish kill due to the inevitable gush of muddy water, said Tillemans.
Mark Bagley of the Sierra Club concurred that the timing of the release was geared to reducing any potential fish kills, and added that the large flow has been “talked about for eight years.”
But the agency’s priorities  revolve around water quality, getting good “scouring” action from the pulse flow to help clear the channel and reducing any fish kill with this first, large flow, Tillemans said.
And, he noted, there seem to be more fish in the river to worry about than expected at this stage of the river re-greening project.
Tillemans went through a slideshow highlighting sections of the river. The photos revealed the once-dusty riverbed looked like a long, green snake winding its way from south of Big Pine to the Owens Lake Delta. Average water flows along the 62 river miles were holding steady at about the mandated 40 c.f.s., he reported.
More important, “the flood plain is starting to green up” alongside the new river, as little pools emerge and the water table around the river channel rises. Just as important, some of the less desirable grasses and rabbit brush in and near the channel is already dying out because of being literally drowned by the water, Tillemans said.
The effort to link numerous existing ponds and lakes near the river to each other and the river seems to be paying off. Tillemans said fish are circulating from the lakes into the river, which “seems to be working pretty well” as a way to “colonize” the new river stretches with fish.
Inyo County Supervisor Linda Arcularius said she didn’t expect to see so much progress on the river in “that short amount of time.”
Water was released into the LORP last December.
Bilyeu predicted that in coming years the LORP will provide great habitat for wildlife, especially birds, and a new fishery for anglers. “It’s going to be fantastic.”