State’s Water Would Cost Ventura Up to $80 Million, Consultant Says

The city of Ventura would have to spend between $40 million and $80 million if it wants to join other Ventura County communities in tapping state-owned reservoirs to increase its water supply, a consultant hired by the city said Monday.

David Ringel, a consultant with James Montgomery Engineering in Pasadena, said purchasing state water brought in from Northern California would also be somewhat unreliable because it cannot always meet customers’ demands.

But building a pipeline to tap into the reservoirs at Castaic Lake is one of the best options for helping solve Ventura’s water problems, said Ringel, who was scheduled to tell city officials of his preliminary findings on the State Water Project at a City Council meeting Monday night.

“The city is ultimately going to have to decide which direction they want to go,” said Ringel, who is also evaluating the costs of building a desalination plant and improving the city’s ground-water production.

“The local supplies will begin to run out after 2010, even under wet conditions,” he said.

The City Council is expected to decide in June how the city should boost its long-term water supply. Ringel said he will present his desalination plant study to the council March 23.

Ringel said he found that it would cost between $60 million and $100 million for the city to build a desalination plant to convert seawater into drinking water. In addition, he said it would cost $2,600 an acre-foot to produce the water--compared to $800 to $1,000 per acre-foot for state water. One acre-foot equals 325,850 gallons, about enough for two families of four for a year.

Although the seawater option is more expensive, it is also more reliable than state water, he said.

“There are trade-offs,” Ringel said. “Obviously, seawater is there all the time.”

He said it would take six to eight years to build the pipeline or to construct the desalination plant.

Several city officials said it is important for the council not to delay a decision on the issue.

“If we wait, it will just be more costly than it is right now,” said Tim Downey, the chairman of Ventura’s Citizens Water Advisory Committee. “I don’t think we should let the recent rains delude us into thinking that we won’t be in a drought situation again.

“We need to plan for the future,” he said. “We need to put something in place for the drought we know will be coming down the road.”

Under the state water plan, Ventura would join the cities served by the Casitas Municipal Water District and United Conservation Water District in building a 40-mile pipeline from Castaic Lake west to Ventura. The other cities include Ojai, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Port Hueneme and a portion of Oxnard.

Councilman Gary Tuttle said he would like to see the city opt for the desalting plant.

“I think it is time to move into desalination,” Tuttle said, adding that Santa Barbara recently opened a plant. “It’s reliable and state water isn’t.

“Besides,” he added, “desalination is more environmentally correct than taking Northern California’s water.”

Councilman Tom Buford said the city may want to approve both options: build the pipeline and a desalination plant.

NEXT STEP

On March 23, a city-hired consultant will outline the feasibility of a desalination plant to turn seawater into drinking water for Ventura resident. After reviewing the consultant’s reports, the City Council is expected to decide sometime in June how to best increase Ventura’s long-term water supply.