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Domestic and agricultural water supply in Newberry Springs comes almost exclusively from wells drilled into the alluvial aquifer. The photo at left is the business end of a rotary drill rig owned and operated by Eagle Well Drilling and Pump Service (P.O. BOX 358 Newberry Springs CA 92365-0358 ~ 760 257-3553). The well is being completed by hydraulic jetting to wash out drilling mud and fine sediments. Gravel to be used for a gravel pack in the annulus between the casing and borehole is stockpiled in the foreground. This page describes groundwater around Newberry Springs. |
 Stamos and others USGS Fact Sheet
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GeologyNewberry Springs sits atop an alluvial aquifer on the lower Mojave River (Baja subarea) floodplain and regional aquifer system. The good news is that the floodplain aquifer is widest here___the bad news is that it's at the end of the flow path. Some water that enters the Baja subarea through the Barstow narrows is agricultural irrigation return flow and septic system leachate with much higher solvent loads than fresh precipitation. |
Mojave River AdjudicationMore bad news is that the groundwater level is declining___almost 100 feet in some areas of Newberry Springs since the mid-1940s. In 1990 the City of Barstow and Southern California Water Company complained that groundwater pumpers upstream had over-drafted the Mojave River aquifer. California water law has been described as providing guaranteed permanent employment for water lawyers. Back in 1848 goldminers at Sutter's Mill in northern California established the principle of western water law known as prior appropriation, first in time is first in right, so upstream farmers (the Cardozo group) contested the adjudication imposed by the lower court. A California Supreme Court ruling issued August 22, 2000, in City of Barstow v. Mojave Water Agency upheld the doctrine of prior appropriation, so we now live under a groundwater management plan based on universal cutbacks but without individual pumping limits.The net result of this is that if you have a well installed after March 31, 2000 producing less than 10 acre-feet per year you will be assessed a fee equivalent to the replacement cost of one acre-foot of water per year at a rate set by the Mojave Water Agency through the State Water Project. If you produce more than 10 acre-feet per year you are subject to the judgment. |
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Mojave Water AgencyWater pumped from your well may now have fallen as rain in Northern California. A long trip down the California Aqueduct, through the Central Valley to the Edmonston Pumping Plant, up and over the Tehachapi Mountains, into the East Branch, along the San Andreas Fault to Victorville, and into the Mojave River Pipeline to Newberry Springs may ultimately bring Sierra Nevada snowmelt to your faucet. The Mojave Water Agency is a contractor with the State Water Project, which gets much of its water from the Oroville Reservoir on the Feather River north of Sacramento. Spring of 2006 saw completion of the Mojave River Pipeline across Newberry Road and into infiltration ponds that recharge local groundwater. The Watermaster is required to file an Annual Report with the Court detailing its activities for the Water Year. The most recent report is for water year 2004-2005. Next year's report should include deliveries from the State Water Project to the Newberry Springs infiltration ponds. You can access these reports by clicking on Mojave Water Agency then Watermaster then Downloads. |
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