Water Agency Lists Jail Concerns

The United Water Conservation District filed a 25-page list of concerns Friday with Ventura County officials over a plan to build a $52-million jail on a site at Todd Road near Santa Paula.

The proposed jail would be built on land adjacent to a $30-million water-diversion project operated by the district on the Santa Clara River.

In the list of concerns, the district asked that a county environmental report on the jail study the issues of water quality and supply, the loss of open space, development, air-quality impacts, seismic danger and the effects on wildlife.

The 15-acre jail, which would house 752 inmates, would be built on the site of a lemon orchard.

The primary concern of the water district, however, is the proximity of the proposed jail to the Freeman Diversion Project, which is designed to capture about 55,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Santa Clara River. The project is used to recharge the underground aquifers supplying water throughout the Oxnard Plain.

Frederick J. Gientke, general manager of the district, has argued that the jail could be in danger of flooding because it is too close to the diversion project.

Ranchers in the area have opposed the jail, saying it will increase traffic and encourage development on adjacent farmland. Others have said the site is inappropriate for a jail because of the Oak Ridge geologic fault that runs under it.