One Hand Washes the Other in Plan to Bring Water to Ventura : Drought: Agencies statewide say they are willing to help the city obtain an emergency supply by cooperating with three water districts to bring water north from L.A.

Water agencies throughout the state said Tuesday that they are willing to help the city of Ventura in a plan to receive an emergency water supply from the State Water Project.

Under the plan, approved by the Ventura City Council on Monday, the city would use pipelines from three other water agencies to bring the water north from Los Angeles County.

The council requested 1,200 acre-feet per year for the next two years to be delivered to Ventura as part of the city of Santa Barbara’s request for more water pending before the Metropolitan Water District, which supplies water to several Southern California counties. One acre-foot is enough water for a family of four for about a year.

Officials from the state Department of Water Resources said they would look favorably upon providing an emergency water supply to the city of Ventura but that they are still awaiting a formal request.

An MWD spokesman said the agency would process as much water as it could for Ventura in its Jensen Filtration Plant in Granada Hills, but that the plant is already operating near capacity and may not be able to accommodate additional requests.

And authorities at Ventura County-based United Water Conservation District said they would be more than willing to cooperate with Ventura so that United’s own request for state water does not prevent Ventura from receiving its share.

Ventura already is entitled to 10,000 acre-feet annually from the State Water Project, but receives none because it has yet to build a connecting pipeline.

The city of Santa Barbara, immersed in a water crisis of its own, has been negotiating for two months with MWD to bring water north through the systems of Calleguas Municipal Water District, Oxnard, the city of Ventura and Casitas Municipal Water District.

As part of the agreement to let the water bound for Santa Barbara pass through its pipelines, Ventura would receive 1,200 acre-feet, a fourth of what Santa Barbara would receive.

But the arrangement would fall far short of solving Ventura’s water problems. The water would take care of about 5% of the needs of the city’s 96,000 residents. The city uses 23,500 acre-feet a year, said Carol Green, Ventura’s public information officer.

The extra state water would not lead to cancellation of the city’s recently imposed water rationing plan. “We need some good rain before we can re-evaluate the program,” Green said.

However, the emergency supply would cover almost a third of the city’s water deficit, which is estimated at about 4,500 acre-feet.

“Preliminary studies completed by the Santa Barbara Water Authority indicate the system is feasible,” Ventura Public Works Director Shelley Jones told the council.

“However, the water agencies involved are operating at full capacity during parts of the year, and it remains to be seen whether they would able and willing to deliver the extra water to the needy area.”

The problem is that MWD’s Jensen plant in Granada Hills, which processes about 500,000 acre-feet a year, is already operating at and above capacity during peak summer months, said Tim Skrove, a spokesman for MWD.

Under the emergency plan, Santa Barbara and Ventura would receive no water between June 1 and Sept. 30 precisely for that reason.

Adding to the heavy demands on the Jensen plant, MWD in December received a request to filter 5,000 acre-feet of state water for United, the main provider for Oxnard and Port Hueneme, Skrove said.

“The agencies will have to negotiate between themselves how they distribute whatever water we are able to deliver,” Skrove said.

Frederick J. Geintke, United’s general manager, said he is more than willing to work out an arrangement giving Ventura and Santa Barbara part of the district’s 5,000 acre-feet.

“We’re willing to compromise with them and work out a system,” Geintke said.

Another minor obstacle to be overcome is that the state needs to approve the emergency transfer to Ventura. The state already approved the transfers to Santa Barbara and United, but Ventura has yet to make a formal request, said Donald Long, principal engineer at the state Department of Water Resources.

“The state has to review the request and see where the water comes from, but it’s pretty much automatic,” Long said.

Ventura and Santa Barbara also need to sign agreements with the agencies involved, and some facilities would need to be built.

For example, there is no connection between the Oxnard and Ventura systems, and a pipeline across the Santa Clara River would have to be built. The preliminary estimated cost of the improvements is $200,000, Jones told the council. Ventura would pay $50,000 and Santa Barbara the remainder.