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
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
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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.
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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
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
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
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
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:
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.
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 |
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Contents
Owens Lake: A Source of Dust Emissions
Dust Generation via Wind Erosion
Effects of Seasonality on Dust Emissions at Owens Lake
Air Quality Monitoring Requirements
Trends in Air Quality Monitoring Data
Apportioning On-Lake and Off-Lake Sources of PM10 Emissions
State Implementation Plan Development and Air Quality Modeling
Conclusions and Recommendations
3 NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT
4 EVALUATIONS OF DUST CONTROL MEASURES
Other Non-BACM Dust Control Measures
Dust Control Measures Not Evaluated in Detail
Conclusions and Recommendations
5 ADDRESSING CURRENT AND FUTURE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES WITH A SYSTEMS APPROACH
Toward a Long-Term, Integrated Strategy
Conclusions and Recommendation