THE DROUGHT AGRICULTURE : Expanded Crops May Be Destroyed

Ranchers in the Casitas Municipal Water District who have expanded their irrigation this year may have to destroy those crops within 60 days.

Under proposed penalties for violators, ranchers who do not destroy the crops would pay three times their present water rate or lose water service entirely, depending on the classification of land being irrigated.

The water district’s board of directors unanimously voted Wednesday to hold a public hearing Sept. 26 to consider adopting the proposed penalties. The penalties could affect all agricultural water users within the district’s boundaries who have violated orders not to irrigate any more land than they did last year.

Casitas staff has evidence that ranchers have planted new crops, primarily avocado and citrus trees, and started irrigating land that did not receive water last year, General Manager John Johnson said.

He said his staff is still investigating and declined to release the names of violators or the amount of acreage that could be affected by the penalties.

“We’re trying to determine from comparing aerial photos and by inspection just how much has been expanded,” Johnson said.

The district, which serves 2,600 residential, commercial and agricultural customers, and 14 other water agencies in Ojai Valley, the Rincon and western Ventura, declared a water emergency April 11.

On May 16, Casitas sent out letters notifying the 277 agricultural customers who buy water directly from the district that no expansion of irrigation service would be allowed for at least a year. Casitas asked the other water agencies to follow suit and most did, Johnson said.

In December, the district also notified all ranchers who were irrigating hillside terrain--classified by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation in the 1950s as not appropriate for irrigation--that no expanded water service would be allowed.

To the embarrassment of board members, the water district for years had been allowing avocado and citrus growers to develop hillside land, which was against the district’s original agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation.

“We have observed some that have expanded,” said Richard Hajas, Casitas’ operations supervisor. “We could actually see them, from photos, on the Rincon. They have definitely expanded there, but there are others in Ojai Valley as well.”

Although Casitas called for a voluntary 20% cutback on all water consumption this year, Johnson said agricultural water use has risen 2% over last year. The district’s overall consumption, however, has dropped 23%, he said.

Johnson said it is too early to tell if expansion of irrigated lands has caused the rise in agricultural water consumption. Agricultural customers use about 40% of Casitas’ total annual water supply, he said.

Once a violator has been identified, the proposal recommends that the rancher be notified to stop using Casitas water. If the rancher does not comply within 60 days, he will lose his agricultural water rate and have to pay the higher residential rate. The new rate could be three times higher, Hajas said, depending on several variables.

The district would verify that all crops have been removed or destroyed on the land in question and that a water connection no longer exists, he said.

Ranchers who do not stop irrigating hillside land would have water shut off to their entire property under the proposed penalties.

“We want to make the public aware that we intend to enforce this,” Hajas said. ‘We’re trying to make sure we have adequate supplies for existing customers. These expansions could negate all the voluntary efforts to conserve.”