Countywide : Lagomarsino Seeks Water Source Study

A study of emergency sources of water--including the use of portable military desalination plants--was proposed Wednesday by Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ojai).

In testimony before a congressional subcommittee, Lagomarsino listed several of the options to be considered, including the use of portable desalination plants in extreme emergencies.

“We’re in the fourth year of a drought, and we need to explore all the possibilities,” Lagomarsino said.

John Doherty, an aide to Lagomarsino, said it might be May before the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water decides whether to finance the $300,000 study. “We hope we can start it in the meantime and reimburse the Army Corps of Engineers,” he said.

Lagomarsino said the Corps has indicated a willingness to do “a quick survey” that could take “three to six months.”

Two of the options that could aid Ventura County, according to Lagomarsino’s office, would be the desalination plants and an exchange agreement with water officials in Santa Barbara County.

“There are over 100 unused desalination plants at Army bases in California, capable of producing 14,000 gallons a day each,” Lagomarsino said. “It would be expensive--about $43 a month to supply a family of four--but if there’s no other way of getting water, it becomes a viable option.”

Doherty said the desalination plants, which filter seawater into usable water, have been used in the past by Marines and the U.S. naval base in Cuba.

The exchange agreement between water districts could benefit Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, Doherty said.

“Santa Barbara County has an entitlement to state water but doesn’t have a pipeline,” he said. “Ventura County would get the water and give some of it to Santa Barbara.”