FILLMORE : City Joins Effort to Obtain State Water

The Fillmore City Council voted Tuesday to spend $12,000 to secure an option on its share of state water allotted to the United Water Conservation District.

The money will help finance a $302,500 environmental impact report already initiated by the city of Ventura and the Casitas Municipal Water District to determine if a proposed $88-million pipeline is the best way to import state water to the area. United has asked Fillmore, Port Hueneme and Santa Paula to share the bill for the environmental study. The joint participation would guarantee each community’s portion of the water allotment.

United General Manager Fred Gientke said officials need about 12 months to analyze the cost and effectiveness of building the pipeline. The report will also examine alternative ways to import the water. Gientke said that another study would be required if the pipeline is the chosen alternative, and the estimated $545 to $700 price tag per acre-foot of water may rise if the pipeline is not constructed within five years.

Fillmore could receive as much as 800 acre-feet of United’s 5,000 acre-foot allotment. An acre-foot of water is the approximate amount used by a family of four in a year. Gientke said that requests for the water exceed the amount United can supply, and suggested that participants decide among themselves on the exact amount each city would receive.

City officials said the state water could be blended with Fillmore’s local supplies to upgrade municipal water quality.

“I can’t say right now if state water is good for Fillmore,” said Councilman Roger Campbell. “I guess we have to spend the money to find out.”