Desalination, State Water Supporters Clash in Last of 3 Debates : Ventura: The discussion focuses on advisory Measure O on the Nov. 3 ballot. The City Council will make the final decision on which source to pursue.

Desalination and state water proponents clashed in a final debate Wednesday night, two weeks before Ventura residents will cast advisory votes on whether to build a desalination plant or a pipeline hookup to the state water system.

The City Council will make the final decision, but the majority of council members have said they will abide by the residents’ choice on Measure O.

About 50 people attended the event, which was held at City Hall and televised live by two cable companies that serve about 26,000 households in Ventura. Citizen groups Desal Water and Venturans for State Water had sparred at two other forums earlier this month.

Cost and reliability were the key issues cited by both groups Wednesday. In addition, two outside experts brought in to participate in the debate also wrangled over those topics.

David Kennedy, the head of the State Water Project, has said that although the project is reliable, he could make no guarantees about how much water the city would get if it builds a pipeline to hook into the project.

“The drought certainly has been a problem,” Kennedy said. “But more than half of the people in the San Francisco/Sacramento area and most of Southern California depend on (the State Water Project) for most of their water supply.”

The State Water Project receives its water from Northern California rainfall and Sierra Nevada snowpack. Last year, it could deliver only 45% of its requests, and 30% the year before.

Kennedy predicted, however, that the State Water Project would buy more ground water from farmers in the Central Valley in the future. “Urban people in California are not going to put up with chronic water shortages.”

Desalination supporters use the reliability question as one of their main arguments, just as state water supporters use cost as their key argument.

Building a desalination plant would cost Ventura $6 million more annually than building a pipeline hookup, according to a city consultant. It would cost about $30.4 million per year for 30 years to construct a desalination plant, while a connecting pipeline would cost about $24.4 million per year for 30 years.

Operating a desalination plant would require large amounts of electricity, and most of the $6-million difference is the cost of energy, said Shelly Jones, the city’s director of public works.

Art Whipple, president of a firm that has built more than 100 desalination plants worldwide, said it would be cheaper to buy water from Central Valley farmers, but the supply would not be limitless. Desalination is expensive, he said, “but it’s affordable.”

To prove that desalinated water tastes good, Tim Downey, head of Desal Water, poured some into cups during the debate, inviting the audience members to taste it afterward.

Ventura resident Inez Brush said she came into the debate undecided but made up her mind Wednesday to vote for a desalination plant.

“I think we’ve got to be independent,” she said, adding that she wasn’t happy about having to pay more to achieve that.

Desalination proponents and state water advocates have mailed thousands of flyers to homeowners, put up hundreds of signs and walked precincts throughout the city to push their causes. Neither camp has advertised in television, radio or newspapers, but members of both groups have made dozens of speeches at service clubs and organizations to woo voters and solicit donations.

On Wednesday, both groups submitted financial disclosure forms.

Desal Water has taken in $18,849 in contributions and loans and spent $11,378.33, mostly on flyers and postage. The group has been funded primarily by loans from its own members. Downey, chairman of the committee and a city planning commissioner, has loaned it $7,000, and Steve Bennett, a Nordhoff High School teacher and another committee member, has loaned it $6,000.

Venturans for State Water has taken in $19,271 in contributions and loans and spent $14,707.27. Like their opponents, most of their money has also been spent on flyers and postage.

The group has been funded primarily by donations from local businessmen and ranchers, some of whom are from the Santa Clara Valley. Limco Del Mar Ltd., a citrus ranch that is based in Santa Paula, has given $2,000, and Robert Formanek, owner of Five-Points Car Wash in Ventura, has forgiven a $5,000 loan.