Ventura, Ojai Study Plans for Rationing Water

Water rationing proposals are under consideration for both the cities of Ventura and Ojai as the result of Ventura County’s three-year drought, officials said this week.

Shelley Jones, Ventura city public works director, said city water officials have been looking at water rationing plans elsewhere in the state to see how a conservation program might be implemented in Ventura.

Jones, noting that below-average rainfall has already resulted in a 10% drop in the annual water supply from the Ventura River, predicted that the deficiency could increase to more than 30% by the summer.

He declined to elaborate on proposals now under consideration, but noted that one of the state’s toughest water rationing programs is in effect in Goleta, where residents must pay up to 10 times the normal water rates for excessive use of water.

A three-member water committee of the Ventura City Council will meet Friday to consider city options in the face of the continuing drought. Jones said he expects council action on the water problem by the end of January.

“It’s not going to be the end of the world. Life will still go on,” Jones said. “But there’s not a customer in the city who is going to be unaffected by the conservation measures we ultimately decide on.”

In a public statement designed to reinforce the seriousness of the anticipated shortages in water, Ventura Mayor Richard L. Francis said the city’s 94,000 residents should realize that restrictions on water use this summer are inevitable.

“It’s not a question of whether there will be restrictions, but when they will come,” Francis said. “All residential and commercial customers will need to curtail water use significantly.”

In addition to the Ventura River, the primary water source for residents in east Ventura, the city draws much of its water from Lake Casitas, which also is approaching its maximum usage capacity.

John Johnson, manager of the Casitas Municipal Water District, said the district is growing increasingly concerned about the amount of water being taken from the lake and is considering conservation measures of its own.

Johnson, who said that measures now under consideration include “incentive rates to discourage excessive water usage,” said the district may eventually be forced to impose rationing on users in Ventura and Ojai as well as on agricultural users in county areas.

“We have plenty of water in the lake, but we are very close to our safe yield,” Johnson said. “We will be presenting some of the options publicly in February and March.”