Water Concerns Prompt Suit Over County Growth

Santa Clarita Valley water agencies can’t deliver enough water for the rapidly growing northern frontier of Los Angeles County and increased demand will only reduce stream flows along the 100-mile Santa Clara River, a coalition of environmental groups charge in a lawsuit.

In the latest skirmish over growth and environmental protection in canyon land north of California 14 and along Interstate 5, the coalition seeks to void a long-term, water-delivery plan for the region on the grounds that it relies on imported water that may not always be available.

If successful, the group’s lawsuit would force local governments to curtail the sprawl of new houses and businesses.

“They are basing their ability to supply water on projections that are way too optimistic,” said Ron Bottorff, chairman of Friends of the Santa Clara River, a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Ventura County Superior Court. “We want water availability reporting based on true conditions.”

Among the projects planned for the area are more than 40,000 homes combined at Newhall Ranch in the Santa Clara River Valley and Tejon Ranch along the Grapevine -- two of the largest planned communities in Los Angeles County history. The region, inhabited by about 160,000 people, is forecast to grow to about 400,000 residents in 20 years.

The head of the water agency targeted in the suit doesn’t believe the environmentalists will prevail.

Dan Masnada, general manager of the Castaic Lake Water Agency, denies that his agency has failed to properly plan for enough water to meet burgeoning growth. “I am confident our urban water management plan will stand up in court,” said Masnada, who had not seen the suit. “We have enough water.”

Even with modest conservation measures, water demand in the Santa Clarita Valley is expected to grow by about 30% in 24 years from the current 90,000 acre feet, Masnada said. One acre-foot of water covers one acre of land about a foot deep, enough to supply two typical households for one year.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that the 2005 urban water management plan prepared by the Castaic Lake Water Agency calls for excessive groundwater pumping that could reduce stream flows and pose a threat to wildlife and rare species along the Santa Clara River, which flows through Ventura County and is the last major river remaining in mostly wild condition in Southern California.

Also, the lawsuit says growth in the Santa Clarita Valley relies too heavily on water imported from Northern California -- water in increasingly short supply due to drought, environmental protections in the Bay Area and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the threat of global warming diminishing the Sierra Nevada snowpack.

“Cities and counties could be approving development where there’s not an assured water supply; and when those houses are built, residents could suffer cutbacks,” said Jonas Minton, water policy advisor for the Planning and Conservation League.