Crystal Geyser promotes its bottled water as “the only major U.S. spring water bottled exclusively at the source.” The company shows eight sources, and the one in Olancha has plans for expansion.
The public can now comment on a Draft Environmental Impact Report on Crystal Geyser’s expansion plan for a 198,500 square foot bottling plant with four bottling lines and a 40,000 square foot warehouse. The site would take in about 35 acres of the Cabin Bar Ranch near Cartago. The comment period ends October 1.
According to the Inyo County Planning Department, Crystal Geyser would extract water from three existing on-site wells in the shallow aquifer up to 360 acre feet per year. It is unknown how many jobs the expansion might include or the tax contribution to Inyo County.
Planners say that the company will have to go through a General Plan Amendment for land use designation changes, a Zone Reclassification and a Conditional Use Permit. Construction would take place in three phases over a number of years with build-out anticipated in 2025-2027.
The public can check out the environmental documents at all Inyo libraries, the Inyo Planning Department office or on the website, www.inyoplanning.org.
I remember sitting on a sweaty, humid air plane a year ago to this day in Panama. Sitting next to me was an exact copy of the Columbian wife in the tv show “modern family”. Boobs and all. She was loud and drunk as as a skunk. I was so… Read more »
Beachfamily- I think you need to drink more water.
Take it back? I think we should be very flattered the there is an international demand for U.S. CG water “bottled at the source”. I live in So. Cal myself and LOVE Crystal Geyser water and appreciate that it is bottled from the local Sierra mountains. I am all for… Read more »
Every drop of that precious water ends up in places like Cancun and Panama. I always ckeck to make sure it’s Olancha peak water. I get home sick sometimes! Anyways, A six pack of Fiji water cost about the same as a six pack of Mammoth brewery Ale. I think… Read more »
beachfamily- you lost me on your comment about water ending up in Cancun and Panama????
big al. i did a little research and from what i can tell your right about the surface water not be depleted around the geothermal plant. they were condensing the steam back to cold water after it passed thru the turbine generaters and pumping back down to the steam fields,… Read more »
beach family. think of 360 acre feet as a swimming pool the size of a football field endzones included and 360 feet deep.
Is 360 acre feet per year a lot? I should know because I have read all the books about Owen’s valley water that I can get my hands on. I read somewhere that there was plans to build a Budweiser plant in Olancha.I would probably start drinking that stuff if… Read more »
360 acre feet is just a bit under the average yearly use of stream water by the Town of Mammoth Lakes (currently under attack by DWP).
Benett Kessler
Has anyone else heard anything about Budweiser building up here?
With all the non-stop posting by “Trouble” today,
I’d say he/she needs a constructive hobby.
The fishing really sucked and your right.
big al i was under the assumption that ground water and well head steam presure were directly related and that a decrease in steam presure was caused by a decrease in available ground water seeping back down to the depth where volcanic activity heats it up, and over the last… Read more »
OK .. that’s what I thought you said hehe .. but seriously, am I wrong to say that .. they have been importing water for this purpose throughout the process, that there isn’t really a loss to ground water in the area. Isn’t the process there they’re using involving importing… Read more »
The Coso steam plant is a perfect example of the real issue. It’s not about water it’s about money. The only reason Inyo County allowed the pipeline to be built from Rose Valley to the Coso Plant is because the Coso plant is the largest tax revenue generator in the… Read more »
The original design/idea of the Coso Steam plant was a Closed Loop system. Steam/pressure collected in shallow wells was to drive turbines to produce electrical power then the condensing towers should have cooled the gas back to a liquid to be re-injected into the deep wells, to be made back… Read more »
You’re probably right Mark.
hehe flip floppy .. I like that.
crystal geyser is already automated,state of the art bottling plant. i think you would be suprised at how much water is trucked out daily. its not a couple of guys with a garden hose. also the geothermal power plants at coso south of olancha recently aquired water rights from rose… Read more »
No .. the water is injected to make more steam .. it isn’t depleting the ground water. They are injecting the water into the fissures, to create more steam. They are not sucking the ground water dry at the site. nice try though.
They actually did suck all the ground water try at the site Big Al. I’m pretty sure that’s why they ran the pipe line to Rose Valley. You’re going to have a hard time convincing me that water ever makes it back to the Rose Valley aquafier.
They are tapping into the aquifer at Little Lake Ranch as well. The ranch fought it for years but Coso won. I don’t know if it affects the lake drastically though. It appears to be at the same level as it usually is.
Apologies. They may have some groundwater rights but if they do then they aren’t pumping from that area.
http://www.inyowater.org/documents/OwensValleyReport2011.pdf
DWP only has surface water rights.
Mr. Chow- if that’s correct, why does DWP have so many pumps and wells?
LADWP does claim groundwater rights in the Owens Valley. I don’t know about the Olancha area.
Benett
They claim most water rights Benett, there are pockets of water rights privately owned by citizens. Just as with the case at the bottling plant.
Bring it on.. the AREA needs the jobs and Taxifornia needs the taxes
unless they plan on building an automated plant..
Now this makes me wonder, why DWP gets all the flack for pumping the water out of Inyo, I might add they deserve it, how does Crystal Geyser do what ever they want with our water, as an Olancha resident of 50years, I wonder what is going to happen when… Read more »
It would take a lot of bottle water to effect our water levels. I think it is great that a large company is going to expand in the Owens. I hope Mammoth Brewery comes to Bishop also. I hope our city council folks are bright enough to do all they… Read more »
I agree with Trouble, I think this expansion could be great for the Owens Valley. Crystal Geyser has been very generous and good to the Lone Pine School District.
I think it’s a matter of scale. LADWP pumps close to a hundred thousand acre feet of ground water per year. I doubt CG pumps half that much.
But that’s a good question to ask. How much water does CG bottle per year?
Oh, the answer is in the article. 360 acre feet per year.
How are they able to expand without LADWP going after them? Not critical, just curious.
LADWP apparently does not own the water rights on the Cabin Bar Ranch.
BK