Santa Barbara to Tap State Water : Drought: County votes overwhelmingly to finance pipeline and pumping stations necessary to join project. Residents have endured strict rationing measures.

The longstanding controversy over whether to tie into the State Water Project was finally resolved Tuesday as Santa Barbara County voters approved measures to import Northern California water into their region for the first time.

After enduring some of the most severe water cutbacks and rationing levels in the state, Santa Barbara-area voters approved state water by more than a 2-1 margin.

Eleven water districts in the county--including the cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta--voted to finance, through bond measures, the necessary pipeline and pumping stations. Three smaller water districts voted against participating in the project. The overall voter turnout was about 40%.

Voters in the city of Santa Barbara also approved--in an advisory election--the construction of a permanent desalination facility for the city’s long-range needs. The city soon will begin building an emergency desalination facility that could be converted into the permanent plant.

Supporters of state water had argued that the area’s shortage was so critical that both desalination and state water were needed to supply residents and replenish ground water supplies.

“I think voters realized that our local water resources are wholly inadequate to sustain our economy and our quality of life,” said Steve Decker, founder of We Want Water, a group in favor of state water ties. “We need a variety of water sources.”

Those who opposed state water contended that the project was unreliable, unnecessary and growth-inducing. Desalination, which would be controlled by local, not state officials, was the best solution for the area’s water shortages, opponents of state water said.

“The drought caused a lot of fear in the community,” said Jeff Young, chairman of Water for Everyone Today, a group formed to oppose state water. “People simply wanted water and didn’t pay much attention to some of the problems associated with getting that water.”

Overall, while state water passed by a large margin in the county, in the two largest cities--Santa Barbara and Goleta--the vote was relatively close. In Santa Barbara, 55% voted for state water, and in Goleta the measure passed with 53%.

The city of Lompoc and two small communities nearby were the only areas that rejected state water. The cost of state water was too high for a small population to afford, said Bess Christensen, who led a Lompoc group that fought the project. And the three communities had more alternative water sources than the cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta, she said.

The cost of building a pipeline and pumping stations from Kern County, near the California Aqueduct, to Lake Cachuma, the primary reservoir for the area, is more than $400 million, and the share for the city of Santa Barbara is more than $25 million. The project could begin delivering water by 1996.

Residents in San Luis Obispo County must soon decide whether to participate in the project and help finance, along with Santa Barbara County, the coastal branch of the aqueduct.

San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties have long shared the State Water Project’s construction costs and paid fees to ensure their entitlement to the water. But neither county has yet received a drop of it. In 1979, voters rejected state water, partly to control growth.

WATER VOTE

After decades of debate, Santa Barbara County voters approved hooking up with the State Water Project. Map shows route of proposed extension to the project.