By Deb Murphy

While the process still has red tape to unravel, the City of Bishop anticipates putting in a water line to the Bishop Veterinarian Hospital on North Sierra Highway as early as this spring, three years ahead of schedule.

Why is this news, and good news at that? The water line is key to future land releases by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The big caveat in any land release is LADWP’s requirement that the land be supplied with a domestic water source—in this case, the City of Bishop.

Public Works Director Dave Grah told the City Council at Monday’s meeting, “DWP is receptive.”

Work on the water line will require an easement from the department, Grah said. The plan is to combine the water line easement with the long-awaited bike path from See Vee Lane.

The City would pay the construction cost, Grah stated, with Bishop Vet paying to connect to the line. The hospital sits on the highway, the western edge of a 150-acre parcel that runs between See Vee Lane on the east, and Sierra Street on the west. The land is zoned residential.

“We’d like to get something in place so, if significant development happened in the area in the future, development would reimburse the City for its share of the construction costs,” Grah said.

The significance of the water line plan wasn’t lost on Councilmember Jim Ellis. “This could open the door” to future land releases, he said.

Discover more from Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading