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Owens Lake Dust Mitigation

For over five years, Air Sciences has provided technical assistance to the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and CH2M HILL on a $400-million project to mitigate dust emissions on the Owens dry lakebed in the Owens Valley, California. This program seeks to control dust emissions on an area of 30 square miles of exposed lake sediments using State Implementation Plan (SIP)-approved measures, including shallow flooding and managed vegetation (soil irrigation and drainage coupled with salt grass plantations). Air Sciences' role in the project has been to provide technical oversight on the air quality issues related to the project, including: research design and review; evaluation of dust emission mechanisms and mitigation measures; dust source area identification and mapping; emission rate characterization; dispersion modeling; statistical analysis of data; regulatory review; monitoring system design, installation, and operation; report preparation; expert testimony; and agency negotiations on technical matters contained in the SIP.

Air Sciences is currently involved in designing and implementing an extensive network of aerometric and sand flux monitoring instruments on two separate portions of the lakebed. This information will help the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power to better understand the effectiveness of the dust control measures that have been constructed on the lakebed, and to improve the effectiveness of these measures in the future. The system design balances the technical and regulatory needs and concerns of a diverse audience, including the LADWP, the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District and its consultants.

In another ongoing study, Air Sciences is performing an extensive data analysis and CALPUFF dispersion modeling analysis to characterize areas that are currently emissive and therefore in need of additional controls.