OAK VIEW : Water Firm Funds Controversial Video

One of the county’s three largest water companies has given its reluctant support to a video on water conservation that promotes the need to import state water.

Casitas Municipal Water District directors agreed last week to contribute $500 to a 22-minute video produced by the Ventura Economic Development Assn. on condition that Casitas not be listed as a sponsor.

Several board members said they were concerned about how it would appear to the public for Casitas to support a video that indicates importing water from the California Aqueduct is the best solution to the county’s water crisis.

Importing water from the state aqueduct is expensive, and some no-growth activists argue that tapping into water from Northern California will open the area to unchecked growth.

Casitas General Manager John Johnson said some board members were concerned that the video could be viewed as having a pro-growth slant.

“The video was very professionally produced, and it provided good information concerning water needs in Ventura County,” Johnson said. “There was some concern expressed about some of the suggestions in the video and its participants.”

The association is a consortium of county businesses that support growth in the county.

Another problem, the directors said, is that Casitas was asked to contribute toward the $10,000 cost of the video after it was made.

“In the future, it should be clear that we will not support something if asked after the fact,” said board President James W. Coultas.

Chuck Bennett, an association member who produced the “Water Awareness Video,” asked for the $500 contribution last month when he showed the finished tape to the water board. He said the production has the support of many other water agencies, businesses and individuals in the county.

Bennett said Friday he disagrees with the board members’ conclusions. “It says specifically in the video that it doesn’t have a pro-growth slant,” he said.

“At the end, I make an appeal for state water to be brought in and say it will not affect growth,” he said. “We say growth is not tied to water, that it is up to the political bodies.”