Lake Casitas : Sharp Hikes Possible for Exporting Water
Casitas Municipal Water District wants to hike Ventura’s water rate from $144 to nearly $4,000 for each acre-foot of water the city sends outside district boundaries.
But several Ojai Valley customers say stronger action should be taken against Ventura for “illegally” exporting Casitas water east of Mills Road.
“The way it’s written, if you have enough money, you can take water out of the district and leave the farmers and other customers without any,” Pat Baggerly of Meiners Oaks said at a Casitas board meeting this week.
Casitas director Jim Coultas said the high rates would be extremely punitive. “I don’t know how much tougher we could get,” he said. “The district is not going to shut off water to the city of Ventura.”
Shelley Jones, Ventura’s public works director, defended the city while asking the board to delay adopting a rationing plan, which proposes 20% cutbacks in customer allocations, and the stiff penalties for any customer who exports water against district rules. The board postponed action until May 15.
“It’s never been our intent to use water outside the district, but there is a drought going on,” Jones said.
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