Monahan Fuels Water Feud With Council

Ventura Councilman James Monahan, who was bumped off the city’s water committee last week, lashed out at his opponents on the City Council, accusing them of “hoping for some rain” rather than working on realistic solutions to the city’s water shortage.

Monahan’s comments represented the latest development in the continuing feud between the councilman and three of his slow-growth colleagues on the council: Todd Collart, Cathy Bean and Don Villeneuve.

Monahan said although his colleagues have met with water agencies to discuss importing water, they are not serious about tapping into the state water system that brings Northern California water to many Southern California cities.

“I see them as stalling, they are hoping for some rain so they don’t have to act on state water and leaving the city vulnerable to the next drought,” Monahan said Friday. “I don’t think they are sincere in their efforts.”

His remarks followed a top-level meeting Tuesday between Ventura city officials and three other water agencies that some city council members hailed as a major breakthrough in the process of determining whether to import state water.

After the meeting, Villeneuve said the city and the various water agencies reached an agreement to consider studying the environmental impact of hooking Ventura to the state water system, without committing the city or any of the water agencies to do so.

The City Council and each water agency would first have to approve the agreement worked out at Tuesday’s meeting before an environmental impact report could begin.

“We have a long way to go before we hammer out a binding agreement on state water importation, but we took the first step,” Villeneuve said.

The proposal discussed at Tuesday’s meeting, which was closed to the public, would bring state water to drought-stricken Ventura County through a pipeline from Castaic Lake, which is connected to the state water project.

Beside Ventura officials, others attending the meeting were representatives of the United Water Conservation District, the Casitas Municipal Water District and the Castaic Lake Water Agency.

The meeting was called to evaluate the findings of a feasibility study on importing state water that recommended building an $88-million pipeline to carry the water 36 miles from the Ventura County-Los Angeles border to the Oxnard-Port Hueneme water system.

The study, commissioned by the city and the three water agencies and completed in May, was the third on the subject in the past four years. All of the studies have endorsed the same idea of importing state water.

Under the plan discussed Tuesday, Ventura would stand to gain up to 10,000 acre-feet of high-quality water a year--enough to cover the needs of half its population. Ventura would pay about half of the cost of the project.

United and Casitas water districts would pick up the other half of the cost and each would get 5,000 acre-feet of water. Castaic would provide the water-treatment facilities and charge for its services.

An acre-foot is a body of water a foot deep that covers an acre. Typically, it is enough to meet the needs of a family of four for a year.

“Benefits of the recommended plan include increased water supply reliability, improved water quality and reduced ground-water overdraft and seawater intrusion,” the report said.

But critics argue that tapping into state water would lead to uncontrolled growth to the area. “I personally think state water is a waste of time,” said Councilman Gary Tuttle, the only council member to openly oppose that option. “State water will bring in more people and 15 years from now we’ll be looking for more water all over again,” he said.

Tuttle and Monahan hold opposing views on state water importation, but they agree that the time has come for the full City Council to take a stand. Since 1964, the city of Ventura has spent $7.3 million in securing rights to state water, and thousands of staff hours studying how to bring it to the city. Both say there is more than enough information available for the council to commit one way or another.

“I, too, urge them to make up their minds as soon as possible,” Tuttle said, agreeing with Monahan, who is sometimes a bitter opponent. “Let’s get on with solving the water crisis as soon as possible,” Tuttle added.

Mayor Richard L. Francis and Councilman John McWherter, both state water supporters, have expressed similar concerns.

But with three council members still holding out until they receive more information, neither side has enough votes to endorse or kill the project.

Villeneuve, Collart and Bean say they are simply acting as responsible public servants and will not be rushed into making a decision.