Countywide : House Panel OKs Water Study Funds
A House appropriations committee approved $300,000 Wednesday for an emergency water study designed to find solutions to the drought in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
The same committee also approved $1.2 million to dredge the Ventura Harbor, said John Doherty, legislative aide to Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura).
The funds still must be approved by both houses of Congress, Doherty said.
Lagomarsino asked the Army Corps of Engineers to perform an emergency study to find ways to provide more water to the parched counties, where the ongoing drought has caused mandatory rationing in some cities.
Among the options the study will consider are desalinating seawater, bringing in water by tanker from glaciers and constructing a pipeline to receive state water, said Ken Carter, Santa Barbara district manager for Lagomarsino.
On Friday, Lagomarsino will lead a contingent of officials to Ventura and Santa Barbara counties for meetings with area water district representatives and city officials.
The delegation also plans to tour the Freeman Diversion dam being built on the Santa Clara River near Saticoy.
Federal representatives attending the Friday meetings will include officials from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Environmental Protection Agency and Fish and Wildlife Service, Doherty said.
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