OJAI : City Supports Talks on Valley Water Plan
Officials of the Casitas Municipal Water District and Southern California Water Co. hope to invite a dozen smaller Ojai Valley water companies to begin talks toward adopting a conservation plan for the entire valley.
Supporting the effort, which would require permission from water district directors, is the city of Ojai, which has been caught in the middle of a dispute between the companies over how much water remains in the underground Ojai basin.
Southern California Water Co., which serves 2,700 city customers, wants to drill several more wells to enable it to stop buying from Casitas, which provides 26% of its supply. Casitas officials fear that more pumping will drain the basin.
The Casitas district declared an emergency water shortage in April but stopped short of ordering water rationing.
The Ojai City Council has decided to hire Santa Barbara attorney Robert H. Jones, who has 30 years of experience in water resources law, to help draft a water management plan for the city.
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