Antonovich Joins Rivals of Builder’s Plan to Export Water : Palmdale: City officials are fighting a landowner’s offer to sell the state 6 million gallons a day.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich said Wednesday he will join local officials in opposing a developer’s plan to export nearly 6 million gallons a day of ground water from the Antelope Valley to other areas of thirsty Southern California.

The supervisor’s comments came after he met with Palmdale City Council members who sought his help in opposing developer Raymond Shelton’s plan.

Shelton wants to sell the water beneath his property to the state for up to $1.6 million a year in what would be the first major export of the valley’s ground water.

“That’s a big problem,” said Antonovich planning deputy Dave Vannatta. “We have a very limited resource out here. We have an overdraft problem with ground water as it is.”

City and water agency officials in the Antelope Valley have broadly condemned the proposal since it was disclosed several weeks ago.

They maintain the region, because of the drought and high-paced development, is overusing its ground-water basin and can ill-afford to export its water elsewhere.

The comments by Antonovich and Vannatta marked the first time the supervisor’s office has sided with those who argue that the valley has been overusing its ground water. County water officials, in contrast, have said there is no overdraft.

But Shelton, who controls the several-hundred-acre Mountain Brook Ranch about 16 miles southeast of Palmdale in Valyermo, contends he is legally entitled to pump the ground water from wells on his property and then sell it to the state Department of Water Resources.

Shelton, a San Clemente-based developer, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

State water officials, who said Shelton originally approached them with an offer to sell the water, said they are still considering whether to accept the deal.

Antelope Valley officials have petitioned the state to reject the offer.

The proposal would involve building a pipeline about 1 1/2 miles long to carry the water from the ranch to the nearby California Aqueduct.

Shelton asked the state for an eight-year contract to compensate for the cost of building the pipeline.