Demand Could Outstrip Supply by 1992

Within five years, the rate of future growth in the Santa Clarita Valley may be determined not by the number of building permits issued but by the availability of water.

Los Angeles County planners have predicted that the population of the fast-growing area will increase from its present 106,000 to about 270,000 by 2010. But unless an ambitious plan set in motion last year by the Castaic Lake Water Agency is successful, the water supply will be unable to keep pace with development, according to Robert C. Sagehorn, the agency’s general manager.

“We’d like to be in a situation not to define population limits,” he said.

Fears About Unfinished Projects

Nevertheless, that appears to be the case, leading some homeowners to express fears that a future water shortage may prompt developers of long-term projects to stop in midstream, leaving unsightly, unfinished housing developments in their neighborhoods.

“Do we or don’t we have the water?” many have asked.

The truth is that no one really knows how much water will be available in the future.

“We have enough water now to supply the population until about 1992 or so,” Sagehorn said. After that, “We could run out.”

Future water supplies depend on a variety of factors, including completion of the State Water Project, approval of a proposed increase in the amount of surplus water the agency is allowed to buy from the state and development of a ground-water storage bank.

Estimates indicate that 115,000 acre feet of water will be needed each year to accommodate the 270,000 residents expected to be drawn to the area by 2010. As of now, delivery of only 52,500 acre feet is assured.

Under its 1962 charter, the water agency is entitled to purchase 41,500 acre feet of water from the state each year. However, until the State Water Project is completed, Sagehorn said, the agency can only be sure of obtaining 20,000 acre feet annually.

Larger Entitlement Sought

Ground-water supplies sold to customers by the area’s four water companies total 32,000 acre feet a year.

The water agency, which now supplies about a third of the area’s water, has asked the state Department of Water Resources to increase its entitlement, Sagehorn said.

A total of 85,000 acre feet of water is available from water agencies in Kern County that no longer can afford their entitlements because of a decrease in agricultural crops in that area. In addition to the Castaic agency, Sagehorn said, the Coachella Valley Water Agency is seeking a portion of that water.

But state and local water officials differ on whether the Kern County water should be allocated to other agencies or be bought back by the State Water Project and stored for use in the event of a major drought. Sagehorn said the issue will be decided sometime in May.

“I think there will be some kind of compromise so that both interests can be served,” Sagehorn said. He added that he also foresees efforts by Kern County residents to keep the water there.

Must Demonstrate Need

David Kennedy, state Department of Water Resources director, has asked the Castaic agency to demonstrate that it needs the additional water.

The water agency’s board of directors has hired two consulting firms--Glen Riter and Associates and the firm of Kennedy-Jenks-Chilton--to assess the Santa Clarita Valley’s long-range water needs and to prepare a water plan for the agency. The study, which cost the agency $100,000, will be completed sometime next month, Sagehorn said.

“We’re trying to see that development does not outpace the water system,” he said. “We’re also trying to demonstrate the amount of water that will be necessary to supply the development authorized by the Los Angeles Planning Commission.”

The water agency is paying the consultants another $68,000 to determine if there is an additional ground-water supply in the area. The study will determine whether an underground layer of water-laden sand called the Castaic Formation is part of the Santa Clara River alluvial plain, the present source of the area’s ground-water supply, Sagehorn said.

“We’re looking toward a possible ground-water banking program to store the excess ground water,” he said.

$2.3-Million Expansion

Because of the area’s rapid growth, the water agency has begun a $2.3-million program to expand its facilities.

“We’re adding four new filters to our treatment plant to double its capacity,” Sagehorn said.

The plant’s capacity now is 12 1/2 million gallons of water a day. When the program is completed, the plant will be able to filter 25 million gallons--about 8 acre feet--a day.

Despite its role in determining the area’s future, the Castaic Lake Water Agency, although formed in 1962, was a relatively obscure public body until last year.

A bill broadening the agency’s powers carried by Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), who represents the Santa Clarita Valley, was approved by the state Legislature last September. The measure, among other things, authorized the agency to buy surplus state water, levy water-connection fees and add non-elected representatives from two public and two private water companies to its seven-member elected board of directors.

Bill Fueled Debate

Wright’s bill not only thrust the agency into the limelight but brought to light a simmering dispute among the seven board members about the role the agency should play in determining future growth in the area. At least three of the board members and several homeowners opposed the legislation because they said it would stimulate unwanted development. They also opposed having the water purveyors’ representatives on the board because they buy water from the agency.

But others, such as Mary Spring, then board president, saw the new law as a way to bring needed water to Santa Clarita Valley residents. Spring called the bill “the best possible package of enabling legislation to bring more good quality water into the valley at an equitable cost to all.”

Sagehorn said the agency is in the process of implementing provisions of the bill. The size of the connection fees to be paid by developers will be set after the board examines the consultants’ report, he said.

Representatives of the water companies--the privately owned Santa Clarita and Valencia water companies and the two public agencies, the Newhall County Water District and the Los Angeles County Waterworks District No. 36--have been seated on the board.

Cooperation Necessary

Sagehorn said it is only through cooperation with the ground-water purveyors that the agency can develop a plan to ensure future water availability.

“There are many ways we can improve the existing system,” he said. “Without features like a water banking program and the ability to buy excess water, we could run out. But if we work together, we can meet the needs.”

Ironically, it was the area’s water purveyors who, in 1962, asked for the state legislation that created the agency. They predicted then that the Santa Clarita Valley was destined for growth, and that the ground-water supply would be inadequate to serve new residents.

Those in the water business usually are reliable long-range planners, Spring said.

“We’re thinking 25 years ahead,” she noted.