MEINERS OAKS : Plan for Golf Course Raises Water Fears
The Farmont Corp.’s pursuit of Ventura River water for a proposed golf course near Lake Casitas has alarmed small water companies in the Ojai Valley.
Farmont’s plan to tap the dry river’s underground basin especially threatens the Meiners Oaks County Water District, said Ron Singleton, district general manager.
“We’re very concerned and we are in opposition to any more well drilling,” Singleton said. “That basin is running dry. Any more wells will drain it for everyone.”
The water district relies on four river-bottom wells to serve 5,000 Meiners Oaks residents, Singleton said, and it has already felt a drain from pumping that Farmont began last year in a formerly inactive well.
“We certainly don’t want to get into a water war,” said Lindsay F. Nielson, a Ventura attorney and Farmont spokesman. “There are multiple sources of water available for us, but water is obviously a major concern.”
The Farmont Corp., formed by Japanese media mogul Kagehisa Toyama, is seeking county permits to build an 18-hole golf course on 203 acres west of the Rancho Matilija subdivision off California 150.
The corporation owns about 2,000 acres of the Rancho Matilija land grant, including half of the dry river bottom and 150 acres of citrus groves along the western bank. It also owns the formerly inactive Rancho Matilija Mutual Water Co.
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