THE DROUGHT : Ventura Rejects Calling for Its State Water

A proposal that the city of Ventura use its state water allocations to help surrounding areas during the drought has been rejected by the City Council on grounds that the plan would help the city’s neighbors, but not the city.

The council deadlocked Monday night on whether to use state water at Pyramid Lake for which the city has paid $7.3 million in allocation rights since 1964.

Despite an emotional plea by County Supervisor John Flynn, the council voted 3 to 3 on a proposal to request all or part of the 10,000 acre-feet of Ventura’s share of state water. Mayor Richard Francis was out of town on vacation, and the tie defeated the motion.

The call for state water was made by Councilman James Monahan on behalf of Flynn and representatives of the United Water District. United serves Fillmore, Santa Paula, Port Hueneme and agricultural users in the Santa Clara River valley.

Ventura has until early October to reserve the right to use part or all of its 10,000-acre-foot state water allotment, Public Works Director Shelley Jones said. One acre-foot of water typically serves the needs of a family of four for one year.

The city, which paid slightly more than $500,000 for its state water rights this year, has never exercised its option. Ventura would have to pay just over $2 million to bring its full share down the river, Jones said. Had the proposal been approved, the water would have become available in April, he said.

But Deputy Mayor Donald Villeneuve and council members Cathy Bean and John McWherter upheld the city staff’s recommendation against United’s plan to bring the water down through Lake Piru and the Santa Clara River because most of it would be lost to percolation and evaporation.

City Manager John S. Baker said there were too many unknowns in the plan and that, in any case, he didn’t think the city would be ready to accept state water for at least another year.

Jones said the importation would require an environmental impact report and working out a series of legal agreements with United. In addition to that, the city would have to build a pumping facility to draw the water from its basin, and maybe a treatment plant if the water quality deteriorates along the river.

Baker said the city, which began a mandatory water-rationing program last April after four years of drought, did not need the state water because recent studies had discovered enough short-term water sources to cover the city’s needs.

Those studies, Baker said, guaranteed that the city would be back to pre-drought water production levels by January.

Monahan, who disagreed with Baker, said he would call for a new vote on the issue when Francis returns next week. “I don’t understand why we can’t order the water at no cost and decide in April whether we need it,” he said.

The vote followed a public hearing at which half a dozen residents and public officials urged the council to keep its options open by reserving its share of state water.

Flynn, whose district includes Oxnard and portions of the county served by United, had sent two letters to Ventura council members before the meeting urging them to join United in its plans to import state water.

United has already called in its own 5,000 acre-feet of state water and will begin transporting it down the river next year. On Monday, Flynn, who received a polite round of applause from all six council members when he was introduced by Villeneuve, tried one more time to persuade a council majority to move forward with state water importation.

“I encourage you to take this step,” he said. “It is a bold step, but you have six months to answer all the questions before making a final decision.”

But McWherter said in opposing the proposal that the dry Santa Clara River would be incapable of carrying the water all the way to Ventura. Instead, it would soak into the ground and replenish the Oxnard Plain aquifers, benefiting United’s costumers and Flynn’s constituents--at Ventura’s expense.

“I have to think about the interests of my city first,” McWherter said.

Councilmen Todd Collart and Gary Tuttle, on the other hand, pointed out that Ventura could sell its water to United, or share the cost of lost water with that district, or use the water only in case of emergency, or not use the water at all. But the council would not have any alternatives unless it reserved its share, they said.

However, when United General Manager Fred Gientke was asked during the hearing if United would be interested in buying Ventura’s water or willing to guarantee that at least a portion of the state water would reach Ventura, Gientke could not provide a favorable answer.