COUNTYWIDE : Supervisors Named as Drought Agency

A countywide task force agreed Monday to name the Ventura County Board of Supervisors as the lead agency in future efforts to secure emergency funding for drought relief.

The task force, which includes representatives from area cities and key staff members from the county’s largest water districts, also agreed to write a countywide drought plan to reduce consumption and investigate new resources.

County supervisors are expected to vote March 19 on whether to accept the appointment.

The move Monday brings the county one step closer to a coordinated countywide response to the drought, said Supervisor John Flynn, who assembled the task force.

“This gives the county a regional role to play in the drought,” Flynn said. The county could apply for part of a $100-million fund set aside by Gov. Pete Wilson for drought relief, Flynn said.

Flynn has called on the county’s 10 cities, the three largest water purveyors and their smaller counterparts to adopt uniform water conservation measures throughout the county.

In Fillmore, where the ground-water supply is still plentiful, residents have no mandatory conservation measures. But in Oxnard, where the city’s main water supplier has cut deliveries by more than 30%, the City Council is deciding today whether to impose limits of 70 gallons per person per day beginning April 2.