CAMARILLO : Agricultural Users to Pay Less for Water

Agricultural water users in the Camrosa Water District will pay less for water, district officials have decided. The Camrosa board of directors voted Tuesday to reinstate the discount that growers receive for having water service that can be interrupted in emergencies. The price rate is retroactive to April 1 and will continue until July 1. The discount reflects a Metropolitan Water District policy that agricultural water deliveries are subject to interruption during a water shortage. The Camrosa Water District receives water supplies from the MWD and Calleguas Water District. The rate reduction lowers the cost of an acre-foot of water from $479 to $431 for growers.

“There was an existing discount in effect for agricultural customers,” board member Carolynn Nicholson said. The MWD and Calleguas were going to discontinue that discount as of April 1, she said, but recent rains and the less restrictive allocations prompted the two districts to reinstate the discounts.

Camrosa provides water service to about 25,000 customers in eastern Camarillo and the Santa Rosa Valley.