CASITAS SPRINGS : Water District May Start Own Program

County budget cuts that slashed $42,000 from the Ventura County Water Conservation Management Program have prompted one key water wholesaler to question whether it should continue to pour money into the program.

Casitas Municipal Water District officials are debating whether to mount a conservation program for their own customers instead of continuing to contribute $25,000 to $35,000 annually to the countywide program.

“We only provide 5% of the water in the county, and to fund 25% of the program seems unfair,” said Al Aviles, a Casitas board member.

A meeting will be held Nov. 3 to evaluate the program’s goals in light of a reduced budget that has left it, among other things, one person short of its expected staff level this year, said Nancy Settle, county Resource Management Agency planning manager.

“We’ll continue, but there are some things we won’t be able to do,” Settle said. “Due to the drought condition, it’s become even more critical to have an effective program.”

Casitas, Calleguas Municipal Water District and United Water Conservation District have shared the cost of the public information program with the county since 1984, although about 30 agencies such as cities and farming organizations participate in its services.

However, due to the county’s inability to put in $42,000 this year, Casitas and Calleguas have reduced their funding levels from the $35,000 each had originally budgeted to $28,750. United’s officials had already decided not to put in the full $35,000 because they run their own conservation program.

The county program came out of a 1983 water management plan required by the state for an $8-million grant to prevent seawater intrusion under the Oxnard Plain. It meets the state’s legal requirements for water purveyors to carry out such programs by providing water conservation literature, school programs, a speakers bureau, water efficiency seminars for farmers, landscape water audits and other services.