Long Valley Hydrologic Advisory Committee Plans Meeting in Mammoth Lakes

The Long Valley Hydrologic Advisory Committee will hold a meeting on hydrologic monitoring June 19 in Mammoth Lakes.

The Bureau of Land Management’s Bishop Field Office staff will participate in a panel presentation on “The Earth Beneath Your Feet – Hydrologic Monitoring in Long Valley Caldera,” followed by a poster session, will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Minaret Village Mall, second floor, Suite Z.

“This is an informational meeting that aims to help inform the public of the purpose and goals of the Long Valley Hydrologic Advisory Committee,” said Collin Reinhardt, BLM geologist.

This ad hoc committee provides information to the Mono County Board of Supervisors and regulatory agencies that oversee the environmental aspects of both geothermal development and development of nonthermal ground water in the Long Valley caldera.

Reinhardt will provide information at the meeting regarding the BLM’s role in surface and subsurface resource management of geothermal energy projects on public lands, along with Inyo National Forest geologist Margie DeRose who will discuss the U.S. Forest Service’s role.

Other panelists at the meeting will include:

Mono County Economic Development Department: Dan Lyster, Department Head
Provide background on the history and motivation for creating the Long Valley Hydrologic Advisory Committee. Discuss the purpose of early baseline data collection. Discuss the role of the committee in the permitting and ongoing regulation of geothermal power plants in the Casa Diablo area of Mono County.

EGS Inc.: Gene Suemnicht, Chief Geologist
Provide a summary of the geology of the Mammoth Lakes region and the volcanic history of Long Valley Caldera that shaped this part of the eastern Sierra.

USGS: Margaret Mangan, Scientist-in-Charge, California Volcano Observatory (CalVO)
In February 2012, the USGS established the California Volcano Observatory (CalVO), replacing the Long Valley Observatory (LVO), an institution of three decades dedicated to identifying and mitigating volcanic hazards in the Long Valley area. Like LVO, CalVO operates out of the USGS Menlo Park campus and the field office in Mammoth Lakes. Although the new observatory watches over all potentially active volcanoes in California and Nevada, its staff is as dedicated as ever to monitoring and mitigating volcanic hazards in Mono County. The CalVO Scientist-in-Charge will provide an update of improvements to the present monitoring networks, and an overview of new scientific findings.

Ormat: Charlene Wardlow, Director of Business Development
The Ormat Technologies-owned Mammoth Pacific geothermal power plants have supplied electricity to the Eastern Sierra Nevada since 1984. The G1 power plant was the first binary power plant in California to use geothermal fluids at approximately 300° F to produce 7 MegaWatts. In 1990, the G2 and G3 power plants came on line adding another 22 MW of generation. Ormat will provide an update on existing operations as well as a proposed expansion at Casa Diablo.

For more information, contact Collin Reinhardt at (760) 872-5024, creinhardt@blm.gov.