VENTURA : Council Gives Water Plan Mixed Reviews

Ventura City Council members had a mixed reaction Monday to a citizens water committee recommendation that the city build a seawater desalting plant to boost water supplies instead of tapping into state reservoirs at Castaic Lake.

Tim Downey, chairman of the Citizens Water Advisory Committee, told council members Monday that a majority of committee members agreed that a desalination plant would provide a reliable source of water even though it would be costly to build such a plant.

“There are so many ifs with the State Water Project,” Downey said. “But with desalination, you build the plant and you get water.”

Two councilmen, however, questioned the value of the committee’s recommendation and said they would prefer for Ventura to hook up to the state system that imports water from Northern California.

“It’s a joke,” Councilman James M. Monahan said of the committee members’ recommendation. “I don’t think they were playing with a full deck.”

Councilman Jack Tingstrom said the committee failed to consider all the costs of a desalting plant, which he characterized as far more expensive than joining with other water districts to build a pipeline to Castaic Lake.

But Councilwoman Cathy Bean said she thought that committee members did a great job and that she was taking their suggestion “very seriously. They were a diverse group, and they came to the same conclusion.”

The council is expected to decide in June whether the city should pursue state water or a desalting plant. Officials are not bound by the citizens committee recommendation.

Steve Bennett, a committee member, said if council members do not want to accept the suggestion to build a desalting facility, “at the minimum they ought to put this to the vote of the public.”