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LAKE CASITAS : District Proposes Water Use Limits

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Casitas Municipal Water District is proposing limits on the amount of water its customers can receive beginning July 1, with steep penalties for customers that exceed those restrictions.

If adopted, the measures would be the first instance of rationing that the district has ordered since it declared a water shortage emergency last April and asked its customers to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 20%.

The water district manages Lake Casitas reservoir west of Ojai to serve a population area of 55,000 in the Ojai Valley and western Ventura. Its customers include about 16 other water agencies, including the city of Ventura and Ojai’s major water supplier, Southern California Water Co.

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The Casitas board agreed Wednesday to hold a series of meetings over the next month before adopting the proposed conservation ordinance.

Under the plan, residential customers would be allowed up to 12,750 gallons of water each month with an additional 300 gallons per quarter-acre of irrigated land. That averages to 425 gallons a day per household.

Farmers’ allocations would be based on the amount of irrigated land, type of crop and climatic data. Businesses and resale water companies would be limited to 80% of the amount of water that they used from July, 1989, through June, 1990.

Those who exceed their limits by 10% or more for two consecutive months would see their water bills double for an entire year. Those who go over for a third month would pay five times their current rate.

Those customers who use less than their limit will get a discount on their water bills. “Most residential customers will see no rate increases and some will see decreases,” said John J. Johnson, general manager of the Casitas water district.

Casitas officials will hold a public workshop March 21 for farmers to discuss the measures. Residential customers will attend a workshop April 4, and a formal public hearing is scheduled for April 16.

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