Off-Lake Sources of Airborne Dust in Owens Valley, California

Since 2017, the District has used additional information to attribute PM10 exceedances to specific sources within the Owens Valley Planning Area. This information includes particulate and meteorological data, modeling, cameras, field observations, and media reports of dust storms. These data are compiled into the District’s exceedance database. Based on these data, the District classifies each exceedance as one of the following: 1) dust—primarily on-lake sources, 2) dust—primarily local off-lake sources, 3) dust—primarily regional event, 4) wildfire smoke, or 5) mixed—dust and wildfire sources.