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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
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EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPACTS OF
DUST CONTROL MEASURES
FOR OWENS LAKE

Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel

Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology

Board on Earth Sciences and Resources

Water Science and Technology Board

Division on Earth and Life Studies

A Consensus Study Report of

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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
×

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This activity was supported by a contract between the National Academy of Sciences and the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-67079-1
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25658.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
×

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The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private, nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. Dr. Marcia McNutt is president.

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Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at www.nationalacademies.org.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
×

Image

Consensus Study Reports published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine document the evidence-based consensus on the study’s statement of task by an authoring committee of experts. Reports typically include findings, conclusions, and recommendations based on information gathered by the committee and the committee’s deliberations. Each report has been subjected to a rigorous and independent peer-review process and it represents the position of the National Academies on the statement of task.

Proceedings published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine chronicle the presentations and discussions at a workshop, symposium, or other event convened by the National Academies. The statements and opinions contained in proceedings are those of the participants and are not endorsed by other participants, the planning committee, or the National Academies.

For information about other products and activities of the National Academies, please visit www.nationalacademies.org/about/whatwedo.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
×

OWENS LAKE SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY PANEL

DAVID T. ALLEN, Chair, NAE, University of Texas at Austin

NEWSHA K. AJAMI, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

ROYA BAHREINI, University of California, Riverside

PRATIM BISWAS, NAE, Washington University in St. Louis

VALERIE T. EVINER, University of California, Davis

GREGORY S. OKIN, University of California, Los Angeles

ARMISTEAD G. RUSSELL, Georgia Institute of Technology

SCOTT TYLER, University of Nevada, Reno

R. SCOTT VAN PELT, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service

AKULA VENKATRAM, University of California, Riverside

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff

RAYMOND WASSEL, Scholar

STEPHANIE JOHNSON, Senior Program Officer

CARLY BRODY, Senior Program Assistant (July 2019)

RITA GASKINS, Administrative Coordinator

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
×

BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY

WILLIAM H. FARLAND, Chair, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

LESA AYLWARD, Summit Toxicology, LLP, Falls Church, VA

ANN M. BARTUSKA, Resources for the Future, Washington, DC

GERMAINE M. BUCK LOUIS, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

E. WILLIAM COLGLAZIER, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC

FRANCESCA DOMINICI, Harvard University, Boston, MA

GEORGE GRAY, The George Washington University, Washington, DC

R. JEFFREY LEWIS, ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc., Annandale, NJ

LINSEY C. MARR, VA Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA

R. CRAIG POSTLEWAITE, Department of Defense, Burke, VA

REZA J. RASOULPOUR, Corteva Agriscience, Indianapolis, IN

IVAN RUSYN, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

DEBORAH L. SWACKHAMER, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN

JOSHUA TEWKSBURY, Future Earth, Boulder, CO

SACOBY M. WILSON, University of Maryland, College Park, MD

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff

CLIFFORD S. DUKE, Director

RAYMOND WASSEL, Scholar and Director of Environmental Studies

LAURA LLANOS, Finance Business Partner

TAMARA DAWSON, Program Associate

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
×

BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOURCES

ISABEL P. MONTAÑEZ, Chair, University of California, Davis

ESTELLA A. ATEKWANA, University of Delaware, Newark

BRENDA B. BOWEN, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City

CHRISTOPHER (SCOTT) CAMERON, Geological Consulting, LLC, Houston, TX

NELIA W. DUNBAR, New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, Socorro

RODNEY C. EWING, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

CAROL P. HARDEN, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

ROBERT L. KLEINBERG, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Boston University, MA

THORNE LAY, University of California, Santa Cruz

ZELMA MAINE-JACKSON, Washington State Department of Ecology, Richland

MICHAEL MANGA, University of California, Berkeley

MARTIN W. MCCANN, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

JEFFREY N. RUBIN, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, Tigard, OR

JAMES A. SLUTZ, National Petroleum Council, Washington, DC

SHAOWEN WANG, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

ELIZABETH J. WILSON, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff

ELIZABETH EIDE, Director

ANNE LINN, Scholar

DEBORAH GLICKSON, Senior Staff Officer

SAMMANTHA MAGSINO, Senior Staff Officer

NICHOLAS ROGERS, Financial Business Partner

COURTNEY DEVANE, Administrative Coordinator

ERIC EDKIN, Program Coordinator

RAYMOND (REMY) CHAPPETTA, Senior Program Assistant/Research Assistant

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
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WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOARD

CATHERINE L. KLING, Chair, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

NEWSHA AJAMI, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

JONATHAN D. ARTHUR, Florida Geological Survey, Tallahassee

DAVID A. DZOMBAK, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

WENDY D. GRAHAM, University of Florida, Gainesville

MARK W. LECHEVALLIER, Water Consulting, LLC, Morrison, CO

MARGARET A. PALMER, SESYNC—University of Maryland, Annapolis

DAVID L. SEDLAK, University of California, Berkeley

DAVID L. WEGNER, Jacobs Engineering, Tucson, AZ

P. KAY WHITLOCK, Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd., Rosemont, IL

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Staff

ELIZABETH EIDE, Director

LAURA J. EHLERS, Senior Staff Officer

STEPHANIE E. JOHNSON, Senior Staff Officer

M. JEANNE AQUILINO, Financial Business Partner/Administrative Associate

ERIC J. EDKIN, Program Coordinator

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
×

Acknowledgments

In the course of preparing its report, the Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel (OLSAP) held public information-gathering sessions during two meetings and three web conferences to hear presentations from representatives of Air Sciences, Inc., Big Pine Paiute Tribe of Owens Valley, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California State Lands Commission, Eastern Sierra Audubon, Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Reservation, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Ramboll. OLSAP gratefully acknowledges the individuals listed in Appendix B for their presentations during the information-gathering sessions. In addition, OLSAP is grateful to the many individuals who arranged for the three field-trip sessions at Owens Lake and provided written materials in response to panel requests.

This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
×

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Deb Niemeier, University of California, Davis, and Thure Cerling, University of Utah. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
×

Abbreviations and Acronyms

AF acre-feet
BACM Best Available Control Measure
CAA U.S. Clean Air Act
CARB California Air Resources Board
CDFW California Department of Fish and Wildlife
CE control efficiency or control effectiveness
CEQA California Environmental Quality Act
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
DCMs dust control measures
ECR Eligible Cultural Resource
EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
FAO Food and Agricultural Organization
FEM Federal Equivalent Method
FRM Federal Reference Method
GBUAPCD Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District
GWC gravimetric water content
LADWP Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
MSAs Metropolitan Statistical Areas
NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards
NDD normalized distance downwind
OLSAP Owens Lake Scientific Advisory Panel
OVPA Owens Valley Planning Area
PM10 particulate matter 10 micrometers or less in diameter
PM2.5 particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter
PV photovoltaic
SFWCRFT Shallow Flood Wetness Cover Refinement Field Testing
SIP State Implementation Plan
SWEEP Single-Event Wind Erosion Evaluation Program
TEOM Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25658.
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During the 20th century, the city of Los Angeles diverted surface water flowing into Owens Lake for water supply, transforming the large, closed-basin, saline lake into a small brine pool surrounded by dry playa. Under high winds, the exposed lakebed produced large amounts of airborne dust, resulting in the highest concentrations of airborne particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 micrometers or less (PM10) in the United States. Since 2000, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, at the direction of the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District, has been constructing and implementing dust control measures on the dry lakebed, with the objective of meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM10 and the PM10 standards set by the state of California.

Many of the dust control measures used at Owens Lake require large amounts of water, energy, and maintenance to sustain their performance. Effectiveness and Impacts of Dust Control Measures for Owens Lake evaluates the effectiveness of alternative solutions for their degree of PM10 reduction and the extent that they reduce use of water in controlling dust emissions. This report considers the associated energy and environmental and economic impacts of these proposed measures and assesses their durability and reliability.

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