COUNTYWIDE : Officials Urged to Ship Canada’s Water

A Calabasas businessman Wednesday asked water officials in western Ventura County to reconsider importing water from Canada by tanker over a proposal to build a desalination plant in Ventura or Oxnard.

Robert C. Byrd, president of Imodco Inc., said his company could bring in tankers of water from southern British Columbia for less than the cost of desalination, which is one of seven options under consideration to meet the western county’s water quality and supply needs through 2010.

“It’s a very competitive option and, we believe, at a substantially lower price” than desalination, Byrd said. He said his company is negotiating with the Goleta Water District to buy 7,500 acre-feet of tanked-in water annually for seven to 10 years.

Shipping in Canadian water has so far been dismissed by the agency formed by the city of Ventura, the Casitas Municipal Water District and the United Water Conservation District.

Robert L. Ray, a consultant in charge of environmental studies, said the Joint Agency Water Supply Project has ruled out tankered water because of its cost and the uncertainty of supply.

The agency outlined alternatives Wednesday at Ventura City Hall. Four options call for piping in 20,000 acre-feet of state water--the amount estimated to meet the western county’s growth needs through 2010--from either Castaic Lake or the Castaic Water District. It would supply Piru, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Ojai, Ventura, Port Hueneme and the Channel Islands Beach area.

Other options call for building a seawater desalination plant along the Ventura-Oxnard coast, building up to four smaller desalination plants between Saticoy and Piru to treat contaminated ground water and foregoing any expansion project.