THOUSAND OAKS : Calleguas to Provide Recycled Water

The largest supplier of imported water in Ventura County has approved a plan to provide recycled water to the communities of Oak Park and Thousand Oaks as soon as next year.

Calleguas Municipal Water District directors, on a 4-0 vote Wednesday, agreed to purchase treated sewage water from the Triunfo County Sanitation District in the Ventura area and the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District in Los Angeles County. Director Les Kovacs was absent.

Under the plan, Calleguas will buy about 1,400 acre-feet, or about 450 million gallons, of sewage water from the two agencies each year. The water is treated to a level at which it can be used for irrigation, but is not drinkable.

Until now, water reclamation was considered too expensive, Calleguas General Manager Donald Kendall said. As the cost of water rises, agencies are looking for more reliable and cheaper sources, he said. Calleguas sells imported water for about $408 an acre-foot, but the price is projected to rise to about $700 by the end of the decade.

“We basically see this as drought-proofing the area,” Kendall said.

Calleguas will purchase water at $208 an acre-foot and resell it at a slightly higher rate. That rate has not yet been decided upon, Kendall said. The district also plans to build a $9-million system of pipelines and tanks.

Construction on the pipeline is expected to begin this year, Kendall said.