Water Districts Plan Public Hearing on Annexation

The 56,000 people who live in Port Hueneme and nearby beach communities have their last chance Thursday to comment on an impending legal action that could clear the way for bringing better quality water to the region.

Calleguas and Metropolitan water districts will hold a public hearing to determine whether residents support plans to annex the area into the districts for water service.

Annexation will allow for the importation of state water in a $15-million project that includes pipelines and a desalination plant. The work is expected to improve the region’s notoriously poor water over the next two years.

Annexation of the area to the two water districts could be officially certified as soon as next week, said Doug Breeze, Port Hueneme public works director.

The Port Hueneme Water Agency, formed in 1994 by the city and Channel Islands Beach Community Services District to construct and operate the project, has mailed information to residents affected by the annexation in recent weeks.

The mailing generated 35 calls to a toll-free number set up to receive questions, Breeze said. Only two people called to register their opposition.

“Two negatives out of some 50,000 people,” he said, “sounds like the public approves of the project.”

The dissenters were people on fixed incomes concerned their monthly water bills would double as a result of the annexation.

However, the improved water quality the project will bring is projected to reduce customers’ overall water expenses by more than $30 a month. The bottled water or water softeners most people in the area buy--expenses not reflected on water bills--will no longer be necessary, officials said.

The annexation affects residents of Port Hueneme, the area’s two Navy bases and customers in the beach communities served by the community service district.

The hearing is set for 7 p.m. in the Port Hueneme City Council chambers, 250 N. Ventura Road.