JBWD wins judgment in Robert Ellis case

Joshua Tree, CA.   Today Judge Frank Gafkowski, Jr., handed down a 'Statement of Decision' in what has been a long-standing dispute  between the Joshua Basin Water District (JBWD)  and  land owner, Dr. Robert Ellis, over the District’s monitoring rights of the community’s sole water source. Based on an ordinance passed in 1997, the judicial ruling onThursday clarifies the steps required for Ellis to drill and maintain his own private wells that tap into the Joshua Basin Aquifer. Ellis accesses Joshua Tree’s aquifer through four of his five wells. 

According to the ruling, based on the Ordinance and state law, Ellis must 

1. Obtain permits for each of his four operational wells from the JBWD authority
2. Allow meters to be attached to his wells by JBWD at the district’s expense
3. Allow monitoring of the water meters by JBWD and at the district’s expense
4. Allow the JBWD to take routine water samples for quality assurance testing
5. Allow the water district to have unhampered access to the wells during business hours under ordinance number 97-1.

Judge Gafkowski prefaced his ruling by noting, “It is common knowledge that the Joshua Basin Aquifer is in overdraft.”   He then stated,  “This is not a Taking Case” (a case of eminent domain) but “an effort to impose a permissible restriction on development.”  

Simply stated, this means that citizens may certainly own a private well for personal consumption but with 'a condition of permissible use.'   

By State law this is granted through the Ground Water Management Plan authority held by the Joshua Basin Water District as the stewards of their community’s water supply.  

It is the District's responsibility to maintain the underground aquifer and to monitor the water levels and its water quality for public safety.  This 'permit process' allows the Joshua Basin Water District to ensure that the ground water is properly managed for the short term and long term benefit of the community’s greater water supply while still respecting landowners’ water rights.

Ellis first challenged the District’s authority to monitor his wells in 2004.  According to District officials, these were the first private wells known by the District to be drilled after the 1997 Ordinance.  

They came to the District’s attention when Ellis announced  plans to develop a golf course resort on Sunfair Road in Joshua Tree.  Based on the well driller’s reports, the four completed wells would have the capacity to pump as much water as is used by the entire Joshua Basin Water District, potentially forcing a change in the way the District manages the aquifer. 

The District does not restrict the amount of water that can be “beneficially used” by Ellis on his property (not wasted), but for planning purposes, needs to know how much water is pumped out of the aquifer.