Countywide : Calleguas District Plans 2 Projects

Two projects planned by the Calleguas Municipal Water District could ensure a reliable water supply during the continuing drought or a natural disaster, district officials said.

The projects are part of $182 million in improvements that the district expects to make over the next 10 years, General Manager Jim Hubert said.

The first project will include drilling five wells in the Las Posas Basin to draw water during the winter months and store it for use during the summer.

The well water would be the first used in the district since it was formed in 1954.

Officials also plan to construct an auxiliary water supply pipeline linking the district to the State Water Project.

That line could become the district’s main line if the present one is damaged in an earthquake or fire, Hubert said.

“What we’re looking at is a long-term plan to provide capacity and security for the district,” Hubert said.

The district serves about 480,000 customers in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo and Oxnard. A recent Calleguas study predicted that the district would grow by nearly 20% in the coming decade.

Engineers are completing plans for the first of the five wells and expect to begin drilling by May.

Each well will add 1,000 acre-feet a year.

The second water pipe, eight feet in diameter, will augment the pipe, which runs over Santa Susana Pass. Two sites for the pipe are being considered in an environmental impact report, and a decision should be reached by the summer of 1993, Hubert said.