OJAI : City Council Backs Off Ban on New Wells

Challenged by landowners and the city’s privately owned water company, the Ojai City Council backed down Tuesday from adopting an immediate ban on new water wells.

However, on the advice of its city attorney, the council passed to second reading a law that gives the city more power to review all well drilling than it has had before.

The vote was 4 to 0.

Under the ordinance, anyone seeking to drill, dig or modify a well of any kind to deeper than 50 feet in the city must go before the council for a public hearing.

“I cannot believe that it’s constitutional,” said James Downey, staff engineer for J.F. Miller Co. builders in Ojai.

The company’s permit to irrigate a 14-acre estate was delayed at the city’s request in July after the county received the fee and approved the permit, he said.

For years, the city has let the county issue well-drilling permits, often within days after an application is filed.

Now, the council will consider the merits of each application on a case-by-case basis and approve or deny it as it considers appropriate.

Ojai officials said they are seeking greater management of the city’s underground water supply.

No agency now manages the aquifer, and no cap has been set on the amounts of water that can be withdrawn.

The council had postponed adopting a ban on new water wells that city staff proposed last month.

That draft ordinance was eased after objections from landowners and Southern California Water Co., which provides the city’s water supply from wells just outside the city limits.