Soil-Plant Water Balance and Groundwater

Soil-Plant Water Balance and Groundwater - Laws, Bishop, Big Pine

On-off pumping management according to Green Book Section III values for Vegetation Water Requirements 1989-2026.

Modified

June 19, 2026

On/Off Well Management

How on/off well management works

The Water Agreement and Green Book establish protocols for determining the operational status of LADWP pumping wells based on soil moisture and vegetation measurements. To fulfill monitoring requirements under the Agreement, the Water Department regularly assesses soil moisture content and vegetation leaf area index, in collaboration with LADWP, at 22 permanent sites within wellfields and seven sites in control areas. Soil moisture monitoring occurs monthly, while vegetation monitoring occurs annually in June. Each monitoring site is associated with one or more LADWP pumping wells.

On July 1 and October 1, if soil moisture levels are inadequate to support vegetation needs at a site, the linked pumping wells are placed in off status. They remain offline until soil moisture levels exceed the threshold required by the vegetation at the time the linked wells entered off status. This operational approach is known as the on/off management strategy.

Since the strategy began in 1990, LADWP has frequently maintained numerous wells in off status, consistent with subsequent agreements with the County.

How to read the site plots

Data for each permanent monitoring site (1990-present) are presented in three linked plots. The first plot shows pumping from linked production wells. The second shows available water content (AWC) and vegetation water requirements (VWR) over time. The third shows depth to water (DTW) from the associated monitoring well. Green shading marks periods when the site was in on status; off periods are unshaded.

Each site starts with a compact card showing the site photo, linked production wells, current on/off status, AWC required for well turn-on, and the associated monitoring well.

Instructions

Zoom out: Double-click a plot to return to the full time-series extent.
Data point highlighting: Move the cursor over a plot to display data values in the legend.
Zoom in: Drag horizontally to select a time period or vertically to select a custom y-axis range.
Grouped selection: Selecting a time period in one plot updates all plots.

LAWS MONITORING SITE #1

LW1

Laws Monitoring Site #1

Current status: ON
Linked pumping wells: 247, 248, 249, 398
Soil AWC required for turn-on: NA
Monitoring well: 795T

Shading: green = on; off periods are unshaded

Depth to Water: 795T

LAWS MONITORING SITE #2

LW2

Laws Monitoring Site #2

Current status: ON
Linked pumping wells: 236, 239, 243, 244
Soil AWC required for turn-on: NA
Monitoring well: V001G

Shading: green = on; off periods are unshaded

Depth to Water: V001G

LAWS MONITORING SITE #3

LW3

Laws Monitoring Site #3

Current status: ON
Linked pumping wells: 240, 241, 399, 376, 377
Soil AWC required for turn-on: NA
Monitoring well: 840T

Shading: green = on; off periods are unshaded

Depth to Water: 840T

BISHOP CONTROL SITE #1

BC1

Bishop Control Site #1

Current status: NA
Linked pumping wells: Control site
Soil AWC required for turn-on: NA
Monitoring well: USGS 2AI

BISHOP CONTROL SITE #2

BC2

Bishop Control Site #2

Current status: NA
Linked pumping wells: Control site
Soil AWC required for turn-on: NA
Monitoring well: 796T

BISHOP CONTROL SITE #3

BC3

Bishop Control Site #3

Current status: NA
Linked pumping wells: Control site
Soil AWC required for turn-on: NA
Monitoring well: 797T

BIG PINE MONITORING SITE #1

BP1

Big Pine Monitoring Site #1

Current status: ON
Linked pumping wells: 210, 378, 379, 389
Soil AWC required for turn-on: NA
Monitoring well: 798T

Shading: green = on; off periods are unshaded

Depth to Water: 798T

BIG PINE MONITORING SITE #2

BP2

Big Pine Monitoring Site #2

Current status: OFF
Linked pumping wells: 220, 229, 374, 375
Soil AWC required for turn-on: 28.4, OFF 7-98
Monitoring well: 799T

Shading: green = on; off periods are unshaded

Depth to Water: 799T

BIG PINE MONITORING SITE #3

BP3

Big Pine Monitoring Site #3

Current status: ON
Linked pumping wells: 222, 223, 231, 232
Soil AWC required for turn-on: NA
Monitoring well: 567T

Shading: green = on; off periods are unshaded

Depth to Water: 567T

BIG PINE MONITORING SITE #4

BP4

Big Pine Monitoring Site #4

Current status: ON
Linked pumping wells: 331
Soil AWC required for turn-on: NA
Monitoring well: 800T

Shading: green = on; off periods are unshaded

Depth to Water: 800T

Citation

BibTeX citation:

@report{2026,
  author = {},
  publisher = {Inyo County Water Department},
  title = {Soil-Plant {Water} {Balance} and {Groundwater} - {Laws,}
    {Bishop,} {Big} {Pine}},
  date = {2026-06-19},
  url = {https://github.com/inyo-gov/pumping-management},
  langid = {en}
}

For attribution, please cite this work as:

“Soil-Plant Water Balance and Groundwater - Laws, Bishop, Big Pine.” 2026. Green Book Section III On/Off Pumping Management. Inyo County Water Department. https://github.com/inyo-gov/pumping-management.