Cumulative occupancy and corridor-scale discovery of perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) along the Lower Owens River Project

Technical data report · Inyo County Water Department · LORP rapid assessment survey, 2018–2025

Author
Affiliation

Inyo County Water Department

Inyo County Water Department, Independence, California, United States

Published

July 21, 2026

Modified

July 21, 2026

Abstract

Perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) is a high-impact riparian invader whose corridor-scale rates of spread and discovery along the Lower Owens River Project (LORP) have remained largely unquantified. This technical report summarizes ArcGIS Online occurrence records from rapid assessment survey (RAS) monitoring (2018–2025), maps spatial patterns by reach and river mile, and estimates cumulative known occupancy at 0.1-mile and whole-mile resolutions. Smooth (linear, logistic, recent-trajectory) and step-pulse (fast 6-year vs low-spread 12-year) forecasts describe the pace of known-occupancy infill under continued survey; a 0.1-mi cumulative heatmap shows corridor discovery geography. Interpretation emphasizes waterway-mediated pulse recruitment after flooding, with discovery lagged when flood years limit access. The report also identifies unoccupied corridor segments for the FY 2026–27 RAS workplan. Herbicide efficacy is outside the scope of this analysis.

Keywords

Lepidium latifolium, perennial pepperweed, Lower Owens River Project, cumulative occupancy, riparian invasion, rapid assessment survey

Introduction

Lepidium latifolium L. (perennial pepperweed, tall whitetop) is a Eurasian mustard that invades wetlands, floodplains, irrigation infrastructure, and riparian corridors across the western United States (Young et al. 1995, 1998, California Invasive Plant Council 2024). Dense stands displace desirable vegetation, alter soil chemistry, and are difficult to eradicate once established (Young et al. 1998, CABI 2024). Propagules move as seed and root fragments; stands also expand vegetatively from creeping roots (Leininger and Foin 2009, Renz and DiTomaso 2012).

Along river corridors, two processes generate new occupied patches at different scales. Local kernels—vegetative edge advance (~0.85 m yr⁻¹ under undisturbed conditions) and seed fall near mother plants—densify existing infestations (Renz and DiTomaso 2012). Landscape-level jumps require long-distance transport by water (especially floods), animals, or machinery (Young et al. 1995, Leininger and Foin 2009). Widespread flooding can therefore produce pulse recruitment: a step increase in occupied corridor, followed by quieter intervals until the next major hydrologic pulse. Flood years may also limit survey access, so known occupancy often steps upward in subsequent accessible seasons.

Rewatering and expanded wetland habitat under the Lower Owens River Project (LORP) were recognized early as factors that could increase pepperweed susceptibility by creating wetted surfaces and facilitating downstream transport (Los Angeles Department of Water and Power 2004). Inyo County Water Department and partners conduct rapid assessment survey (RAS) monitoring of occurrences along the corridor. Until the multi-year series summarized here, corridor-scale rates of pepperweed discovery and known occupancy along the LORP remained largely unquantified in management reporting (Los Angeles Department of Water and Power 2024, 2026).

This technical report (1) documents spatial patterns of RAS detections for 2018–2025, (2) estimates cumulative known occupancy at 0.1-mile and whole-mile resolutions, (3) presents operational forecasts of occupancy infill, and (4) identifies unoccupied corridor miles for FY 2026–27 RAS priorities (approved workplan PDF). The estimand is the rate and geography of known-occupancy infill, not herbicide efficacy.

“Perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium), an introduced plant from southeastern Europe and Asia, is invasive throughout the western United States… both the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) list it as a noxious weed of great ecological concern.” — UC IPM

Regulatory context. Cal-IPC rating: High. CDFA: listed under CCR Section 4500 (State Noxious Weeds).

Methods

Occurrence data

Point observations of perennial pepperweed were obtained from the Inyo County ArcGIS Online Noxious Weeds feature service and restricted to the LORP study extent (south of the northernmost 2025 detection). Display year uses the observation date when available and the feature creation date otherwise. Field abundance is recorded in classes 5, 15, 25, 100, 200, where 200 denotes ≥200 plants (dense stands may contain thousands of individuals).

2018 as a cumulative baseline. Records labeled 2018 are not a single-season snapshot: they accumulate detections from surveys in 2018 and earlier years that were consolidated into the modern feature service. Later calendar years (2019–2025) more closely reflect that season’s survey effort and new discoveries. Cumulative occupancy from 2018 onward therefore treats 2018 as the start-of-series known stock, not as an annual recruitment pulse.

Bank side. Pre-2018 field forms sometimes recorded east/west bank explicitly. That attribute is largely redundant for corridor analysis: bank can be derived from each point’s XY location relative to the river channel / mile centerline (as in the 2026 east/west gap lines). This report does not rely on a stored bank field.

Corridor occupancy

For occupancy and monitoring priorities, sites more than 250 m from the river-mile centerline are excluded so off-channel ditch or field points do not falsely occupy a corridor mile. Cumulative known occupancy is the share of (a) 0.1-mile segments and (b) whole river miles (RM 0–60) that have ever had a corridor detection by a given year. Once detected, a unit remains in the cumulative total—isolating discovery/infill from year-to-year variation in survey intensity and from resurvey avoidance of known stands.

Forecasts

Linear, asymptotic, logistic, and recent-trajectory models are fit to the cumulative series as operational descriptions of known-occupancy infill (not stem-density invasion models). Step-pulse scenarios encode flood-then-plateau structure: a fast regime (~6-year discovery pulses after the recent 2017/2023 flood cluster) and a low-spread regime (12-year pulses with quieter between-pulse drift). Calendar milestones are rounded to whole years. A 0.1-mi cumulative heatmap along the corridor visualizes discovery geography without false gaps from resurvey avoidance.

Limitations

  • Records represent documented RAS observations only; absence of a point does not prove absence of plants.
  • The 2018 year class pools pre-2018 historical detections with 2018 surveys; year-to-year increments after 2018 are the appropriate scale for annual discovery rates.
  • Survey timing, access (including floods), and observer effort affect annual maps more than cumulative discovery.
  • Abundance classes are field estimates, not stem counts.
  • Forecasts describe known occupancy under continued survey and do not attribute residuals to herbicide treatment intensity.

Dataset overview

The filtered dataset includes 1647 observations across 8 years (2018–2025), with peak survey activity in 2025 (426 records).

Metric Value
Total observations 1647
Peak survey year 2025 (426 records)
Recent period (2022–2025) 852
Earlier period (2018–2021) 795
Records with usable year 100%

Spatial occurrence

Interactive map of pepperweed detections (2018–2025). Toggle years in the layer control. Creation dates substitute when observation dates are missing. The 2018 & earlier layer is the cumulative baseline (pre-2018 plus 2018), not a single field season. Reference layers: purple river channels; 2026 East gap lines (solid sky blue) and 2026 West gap lines (dashed orange) mark bank stretches ≥400 m without corridor detections—east/west assigned from point XY relative to the channel, not from a legacy bank attribute.

Accessible map summary: Points are colored by survey year (2018–2025). Parallel gap lines mark east (solid blue) and west (dashed orange) banks without detections for ≥400 m — the 2026 RAS walk targets. Equivalent data are in the downloadable gap-line files and the monitoring recommendation tables. Screen-reader users can rely on those tables rather than the interactive map canvas.

Data Downloads

Complete dataset with all 1647 pepperweed observations

Study Area Boundaries

  • North: 36.9747°N
  • South: 36.5478°N
  • East: -117.981°W
  • West: -118.2343°W
  • Center: 36.7612°N, -118.1077°W
Re-reading with feature count reset from 1 to 0

Abundance structure

Field-estimated plants per site in the most recent survey year, and recent low-abundance sites that may warrant early intervention.

Field abundance is recorded in discrete estimate classes (5, 15, 25, 100, 200). A value of 200 means ≥200 plants — a lower bound for dense stands that may contain hundreds to thousands of individuals (not an exact count of 200).

The following chart shows the distribution of these abundance classes for pepperweed sites documented in 2025:

Bar chart of perennial pepperweed sites by field abundance class (5, 15, 25, 100, 200+) for the current survey year. Class 200+ means 200 or more plants and may represent thousands.

2025 site distribution

  • Total Sites: 426
  • Sites below 200 class: 325 ( 76.3 %)
  • Sites in 200+ class (≥200 plants; may be thousands): 99 ( 23.2 %)

Detailed abundance distribution

  • 5 plants (estimate class): 57 sites
  • 15 plants (estimate class): 59 sites
  • 25 plants (estimate class): 76 sites
  • 100 plants (estimate class): 133 sites
  • 200+ plants (≥200; may be thousands): 99 sites

Abundance coding

  • Field classes used: 5, 15, 25, 100, 200
  • 200 = 200 or more — dense patches are not counted stem-by-stem and can represent thousands of individuals

The interactive map above provides the primary visualization of pepperweed distribution patterns.

Recent Sites

Reach-scale patterns

Faceted bar charts showing pepperweed site counts by year for each LORP reach (Reaches 1 through 6).

LORP reach distribution summary

  • Total Reaches Analyzed: 6
  • Years Covered: 2018 - 2025
  • Reaches with Data: 6

Reach activity summary

  • LORP Reach 2: 999 sites
  • LORP Reach 3: 423 sites
  • LORP Reach 1: 163 sites
  • LORP Reach 4: 47 sites
  • LORP Reach 5: 12 sites
  • LORP Reach 6: 3 sites

Corridor occupancy and discovery forecasts

Overall occupancy analysis

Resolution: 1/10 mile segments (600 total segments across 60 miles)

Overall occupancy by year

Number of 1/10 mile segments occupied by pepperweed
Year Segments Occupied Total Segments Occupancy %
2018 15 600 2.5
2019 74 600 12.3
2020 86 600 14.3
2021 21 600 3.5
2022 37 600 6.2
2023 1 600 0.2
2024 87 600 14.5
2025 145 600 24.2

Reach-specific occupancy

Percentage of each reach occupied by pepperweed (by year)
LORP Reach 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
LORP Reach 1 23.7 52.6 39.5 2.6 NA NA 10.5 55.3
LORP Reach 2 3.1 17.6 23.9 5.0 15.7 NA 21.4 40.3
LORP Reach 3 0.7 17.6 20.3 5.4 7.4 0.7 29.1 31.8
LORP Reach 4 NA NA 8.3 11.1 2.8 NA 19.4 11.1
LORP Reach 5 NA NA NA NA NA NA 2.9 17.6
LORP Reach 6 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 8.1

Occupancy summary statistics

  • Average Annual Occupancy: 9.7 %

  • Highest Occupancy Year: 2025 ( 24.2 %)

  • Lowest Occupancy Year: 2023 ( 0.2 %)

  • Most Occupied Reach: LORP Reach 1 ( 30.7 % average)

  • Least Occupied Reach: LORP Reach 6 ( 8.1 % average)

Cumulative discovery and occupancy forecasts

Annual point maps fluctuate with survey effort and with avoidance of known dense or treated stands. A more informative estimand is cumulative discovery: the share of corridor units that have ever had a detection. Pepperweed is already widespread on adjacent conveyances and upper-river reaches; the planning question is how quickly known occupancy along the LORP corridor approaches saturation under continued RAS and waterway-mediated spread.

Cumulative Discovery by Year

Once a segment or river mile has a detection, it remains in the cumulative total. This isolates discovery/spread from year-to-year survey intensity.

Cumulative pepperweed discovery along the LORP corridor (0.1-mi segments and whole river miles)
Year Segments Known New Segments Segment % Miles Known New Miles Mile %
2018 15 15 2.5 8 8 13.1
2019 75 60 12.5 18 10 29.5
2020 100 25 16.7 22 4 36.1
2021 107 7 17.8 25 3 41.0
2022 127 20 21.2 29 4 47.5
2023 128 1 21.3 30 1 49.2
2024 159 31 26.5 35 5 57.4
2025 204 45 34.0 44 9 72.1

Forecast to Corridor Saturation

Models fit to cumulative occupancy and projected forward:

  • Linear — constant annual discovery rate; reaches 100% in finite time.
  • Asymptotic — approaches 100% with diminishing returns (classic discovery / sampling plateau).
  • Logistic — S-curve to a 100% carrying capacity; slows as unoccupied corridor shrinks.
  • Recent trajectory (whole miles) — slope from the last two survey years only; tests the hypothesis that pepperweed is already more ubiquitous than the full-series fit implies, and limited annual effort is still revealing occupied miles quickly.

Pepperweed is already common on nearby ditches, streams, and upper-river reaches; these forecasts treat the LORP corridor as filling toward full known occupancy under continued survey and/or spread.

Projected calendar year when cumulative occupancy reaches each milestone (fit to 2018–2025 discovery)
Resolution Occupancy Milestone Linear Asymptotic Logistic
0.1-mi segments 50% 2030 2032 2028
0.1-mi segments 75% 2037 2047 2033
0.1-mi segments 90% 2041 2067 2037
0.1-mi segments 95% 2042 2083 2041
0.1-mi segments 99% 2043 2118 2048
0.1-mi segments 100% (linear only) 2044 NA NA
Whole river miles 50% 2022 2022 2022
Whole river miles 75% 2026 2028 2026
Whole river miles 90% 2028 2035 2030
Whole river miles 95% 2029 2041 2032
Whole river miles 99% 2029 2053 2038
Whole river miles 100% (linear only) 2029 NA NA
Infill lag (whole mile → 0.1-mi segment)

The horizontal gap between the blue (whole-mile) and red (0.1-mi) logistic curves is the years of additional discovery needed to occupy every subsegment once whole-mile occupancy has already reached that level.

Time lag between whole-mile and subsegment occupancy (logistic forecasts)
Occupancy level Whole-mile year 0.1-mi year Lag (yr) Interpretation
50% 2022 2028 6 ~6 yr to fill 0.1-mi gaps after whole miles hit 50%
75% 2026 2033 7 ~7 yr to fill 0.1-mi gaps after whole miles hit 75%
90% 2030 2037 7 ~7 yr to fill 0.1-mi gaps after whole miles hit 90%
Model Fit Summary
  • Segment linear: +3.7 percentage points/year → 100% in ~2044
  • Mile linear (full series): +7.1 percentage points/year → 100% in ~2029
  • Mile recent trajectory (last 2 yr): +11.5 percentage points/year → 100% in ~2028
  • Segment logistic: midpoint (50%) ~2028; 95% ~2041
  • Mile logistic: midpoint (50%) ~2022; 95% ~2032

Current cumulative occupancy (2025): 34.0% of 0.1-mi segments; 72.1% of whole river miles.

Line chart of cumulative pepperweed occupancy over time for whole river miles and 0.1-mile segments, with linear, logistic, and recent-trajectory forecasts toward 100 percent known occupancy.

Interpretation

  • Whole-mile occupancy is already high (~72.1% known), consistent with coarse-scale presence along much of the corridor.

  • 0.1-mile occupancy remains lower (~34%). Annotated horizontal gaps estimate years of additional surveying or local fill before every subsegment is known occupied at the same occupancy level.

  • Recent-trajectory scenario: using only 2023–2025 whole-mile discovery (+11.5 pp/yr), cumulative mile occupancy reaches 100% around 2028. This upper-bound case assumes the last two years’ discovery pace continues.

  • Full-series linear and logistic forecasts are slower and more consistent with a sampling or pulse–plateau process; the recent trajectory is not a separate biological invasion model.

  • Flood years with limited access (e.g., 2023) can depress annual detections while cumulative occupancy remains unchanged; subsequent accessible seasons may show discovery pulses.

  • Increased RAS effort in currently empty miles (see Monitoring applications) accelerates cumulative discovery even without new colonization.

  • These forecasts intentionally do not attribute residuals to herbicide intensity (Young et al. 1998, Renz and DiTomaso 2006, University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program 2024).

Step-pulse scenarios (fast vs low spread)

Smooth curves average across hydrologic structure. Flood years 2017 and 2023 limited RAS access; large discovery steps followed in 2019 and 2025. The fast step-pulse scenario assumes that ~6-year flood/discovery rhythm continues, with between-pulse drift equal to the mean of all non-pulse years. The low-spread scenario relaxes pulse frequency to 12 years and uses quieter between-pulse drift (years with ≤3 new whole miles)—in case 2017–2023 was an unusually wet cluster.

Step-pulse forecasts of cumulative pepperweed occupancy for whole river miles and 0.1-mile segments under fast 6-year and low-spread 12-year scenarios, compared with linear reference and observed 2018–2025 points. Flood years 2017 and 2023 marked.

Calibrated rates

  • Fast plateau drift: +5.58 pp/yr (miles), +2.80 pp/yr (0.1-mi); pulse jumps +15.55 / +8.75 pp; next discovery pulse ~2031.
  • Low plateau drift: +3.30 pp/yr (miles), +0.60 pp/yr (0.1-mi); next discovery pulse ~2037.
  • Locked-style 2026 one-step (non-pulse year): miles 77.7% (fast) vs 75.4% (low); segments 36.8% vs 34.6%.

River-mile patterns

Reach boundaries (northern)

Northern boundaries (minimum river miles) for each LORP reach
LORP Reach Min River Mile Max River Mile Reach Number Label Position
LORP Reach 1 0.1 3.9 1 0.1
LORP Reach 2 3.7 19.6 2 3.7
LORP Reach 3 19.7 34.5 3 19.7
LORP Reach 4 34.5 38.1 4 34.5
LORP Reach 5 39.0 42.4 5 39.0
LORP Reach 6 49.7 53.4 6 49.7

Faceted bar charts of pepperweed site counts by whole river mile (0 to 60) for each survey year along the LORP corridor.

River mile distribution summary

  • Total River Miles Analyzed: 61
  • Years Covered: 2018 - 2025
  • River Mile Range: 0 - 60

Top 10 most active river miles

  • River Mile 10: 269 sites
  • River Mile 4: 196 sites
  • River Mile 7: 157 sites
  • River Mile 5: 99 sites
  • River Mile 6: 94 sites
  • River Mile 28: 83 sites
  • River Mile 3: 77 sites
  • River Mile 30: 64 sites
  • River Mile 34: 59 sites
  • River Mile 29: 51 sites

Cumulative known occupancy at 0.1-mi resolution

Annual site maps can show “gaps” in later years where crews skip known dense or treated stands. The heatmap below is cumulative: once a 0.1-mi corridor segment is detected, it remains colored in subsequent years (fill = maximum annual site count observed through that year). White = never detected by that year. Only sites within 250 m of the river-mile centerline are included.

Heatmap of cumulative known pepperweed occupancy along the LORP corridor at 0.1-mile resolution by year from 2018 to 2025. White cells mean never detected; red intensity is cumulative maximum sites per segment. Blue lines mark LORP reach northern boundaries.

Monitoring applications (2026 RAS)

The FY 2026–2027 LORP work plan directs summer RAS monitoring toward areas without known pepperweed populations, consistent with prioritizing satellite populations and leading edges (Renz and DiTomaso 2012). Tables below use 2018–2025 corridor detections binned to whole river miles (see River-mile patterns).

Priority Survey Areas

River-mile segments with no pepperweed detections on the river corridor in any survey year (2018–2025). Only sites within 250 m of a river-mile marker count toward occupancy (off-channel ditch/field points are excluded so they do not falsely mark a mile as occupied). These align with the workplan objective to survey unoccupied corridor.

Recommended 2026 RAS survey segments without known pepperweed (n = 20 river miles, 32.8% of 0–60 RM corridor)
Priority River Mile Range Length (mi) Reach Population Status Bank Guidance
High RM 54–60 7 R6 No known populations (all years) Survey both banks
High RM 43–48 6 R6 No known populations (all years) Survey both banks
Medium RM 21–22 2 R3 No known populations (all years) Survey both banks
Medium RM 35–36 2 R4 No known populations (all years) Survey both banks
Medium RM 51–52 2 R6 No known populations (all years) Survey both banks
Low RM 24 1 R3 No known populations (all years) Survey both banks

Summary: 20 of 61 river miles (32.8%) have no recorded pepperweed on the corridor (within 250 m of a river-mile marker).

East / West Bank Planning Notes

Bank side for planning is taken from each site’s coordinates relative to the river centerline (local channel direction at each river mile), which matches how east/west can be derived from XY even when a legacy bank attribute exists on older forms. Sites are classified as east or west of the centerline for gap targeting.

  • Unoccupied miles (table above): survey both banks — absence of detections does not indicate which bank was visited.
  • Partially occupied miles (table below): where all detections fall on one bank, the opposite bank may warrant targeted survey even though populations are known nearby.
River miles with detections on a single bank only (2018–2025)
River Mile Reach Sites Banks w/ Detections Bank to Survey Planning Note
RM 15 R2 3 East only West Detections on east only; consider West bank
RM 16 R2 14 East only West Detections on east only; consider West bank
RM 18 R2 3 West only East Detections on west only; consider East bank
RM 19 R2 13 East only West Detections on east only; consider West bank
RM 23 R3 1 East only West Detections on east only; consider West bank
RM 25 R3 7 East only West Detections on east only; consider West bank
RM 39 R5 1 East only West Detections on east only; consider West bank
RM 40 R5 3 East only West Detections on east only; consider West bank
RM 41 R5 5 East only West Detections on east only; consider West bank
RM 42 R5 3 East only West Detections on east only; consider West bank
RM 49 R6 1 West only East Detections on west only; consider East bank
RM 50 R6 1 West only East Detections on west only; consider East bank
RM 53 R6 1 East only West Detections on east only; consider West bank

Suggested 2026 Survey Sequence

  1. Reach 6 lower corridor (RM 43–48, 51–52, 54–60) — largest unoccupied segments; highest workplan priority.
  2. Reach 3 gap miles (RM 21–22, 24) — short unoccupied segments within otherwise occupied reach; efficient to cover during Reach 3 transit.
  3. Single-bank follow-up — optional targeted passes on the undetected bank at miles listed above, if crew capacity allows.

Access and Route Planning (next step)

RAS is on foot (no boats). In a dry year, crews will mostly follow dry banks, levees, roads, and known walking routes rather than secondary-channel networks.

Field Maps navigation (preferred for split crews): use the east/west gap lines exported below — parallel to the mainstem, drawn only where that bank has no corridor detections for ≥400 m (0.1-mi bins dissolved). Five+ people on different routes each open the same web map / offline area; they do not each need Tracker licenses (those are only for recording tracks).

Bank Color Pattern Meaning
East Sky blue #0077BB Solid Walk/survey the east side — no detections on that bank for this stretch
West Orange #EE7733 Dashed Walk/survey the west side — no detections on that bank for this stretch

Colors follow a colorblind-safe pair; pattern differs too so meaning is not color-only (ADA). If detections exist only on the west, the east line still draws for that stretch.

Optional tracks (handheld GPS or phone GPX) still help refine entry points later; do not block planning on them. Use the river-mile tables plus these gap lines until then.

Field Maps Navigation Layer

East/west gap lines = polylines parallel to the river-mile centerline (±50 m), one color/pattern per bank, only where that bank has no pepperweed detections in the 250 m corridor for a contiguous stretch of ≥400 m (built from 0.1-mi segments). If only the west bank has detections, the east line still appears for that reach. The multithreaded river is included as a reference layer.

Draft for Field Maps — review against the river-mile tables before treating as final.

Download — east/west gap survey lines

38 lines (~59.8 mi): parallel to the mainstem on bank sides with no corridor pepperweed detections for ≥400 m. East = solid sky blue; West = dashed orange.

Gap lines by bank
Bank Line style Lines
East solid 17
West dashed 21

Field documentation

Field Documentation Images

Pepperweed observations with field photos are available from the AGOL feature service attachments. (Photo gallery chunk is currently skipped at render time to avoid slow attachment checks; set eval: true on field-images / field-images-display to refresh.)

Conclusions

Occurrence records for 2018–2025 document progressive filling of known pepperweed occupancy along the LORP corridor, with coarse (whole-mile) occupancy substantially ahead of fine (0.1-mi) occupancy. Cumulative discovery isolates this infill process from year-to-year survey intensity and from resurvey avoidance of known stands. Smooth forecasts provide planning benchmarks for when known occupancy may approach saturation; a pulse-recruitment reading—flood-driven steps, quieter intervals, and lagged discovery after high-water years—remains a process-motivated alternative to purely linear discovery.

Operationally, FY 2026–27 RAS priorities target corridor miles and bank stretches still lacking detections, consistent with managing leading edges and satellite populations (Renz and DiTomaso 2012). This report will update as new observations enter the live feature service. A companion manuscript track will lock and later evaluate formal one-year-ahead occupancy forecasts.

Data disclaimer

Data are collected for monitoring and management by the Inyo County Water Department. Field conditions, survey timing, and observer experience affect quality. Users should verify critical information independently before management decisions.

References

CABI. 2024. Lepidium latifolium (perennial pepperweed).
California Invasive Plant Council. 2024. Lepidium latifolium profile.
Leininger, S. P., and T. C. Foin. 2009. Lepidium latifolium reproductive potential and seed dispersal along salinity and moisture gradients. Biological Invasions.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. 2004. Lower Owens River Project final environmental impact report.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. 2024. Lower Owens River Project 2023 annual report.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. 2026. Lower Owens River Project 2025 annual report (draft).
Renz, M. J., and J. M. DiTomaso. 2006. Early season mowing improves the effectiveness of chlorsulfuron and glyphosate for control of perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium). Weed Technology 20:32–36.
Renz, M. J., and J. M. DiTomaso. 2012. Spread dynamics of perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) in two seasonal wetland areas. Invasive Plant Science and Management.
University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. 2024. Perennial pepperweed.
Young, J. A., D. E. Palmquist, and R. R. Blank. 1998. The ecology and control of perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium L.). Weed Technology 12:402–405.
Young, J. A., C. E. Turner, and L. F. James. 1995. Perennial pepperweed. Rangelands 17:121–123.

Citation

BibTeX citation:
@report{inyo_county_water_department,
  author = {{Inyo County Water Department}},
  publisher = {Inyo County Water Department},
  title = {Cumulative Occupancy and Corridor-Scale Discovery of
    Perennial Pepperweed {(*Lepidium} Latifolium*) Along the {Lower}
    {Owens} {River} {Project}},
  date = {},
  url = {https://inyo-gov.github.io/noxious-weeds},
  langid = {en},
  abstract = {Perennial pepperweed (*Lepidium latifolium*) is a
    high-impact riparian invader whose corridor-scale rates of spread
    and discovery along the Lower Owens River Project (LORP) have
    remained largely unquantified. This technical report summarizes
    ArcGIS Online occurrence records from rapid assessment survey (RAS)
    monitoring (2018–2025), maps spatial patterns by reach and river
    mile, and estimates cumulative known occupancy at 0.1-mile and
    whole-mile resolutions. Smooth (linear, logistic, recent-trajectory)
    and step-pulse (fast 6-year vs low-spread 12-year) forecasts
    describe the pace of known-occupancy infill under continued survey;
    a 0.1-mi cumulative heatmap shows corridor discovery geography.
    Interpretation emphasizes waterway-mediated pulse recruitment after
    flooding, with discovery lagged when flood years limit access. The
    report also identifies unoccupied corridor segments for the FY
    2026–27 RAS workplan. Herbicide efficacy is outside the scope of
    this analysis.}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
Inyo County Water Department. (n.d.). Cumulative occupancy and corridor-scale discovery of perennial pepperweed (*Lepidium latifolium*) along the Lower Owens River Project. Technical Data Report. Inyo County Water Department.