VENTURA : City to Start Talks on Water Systems Link
The city of Ventura has become the first of five major water suppliers in Ventura County to endorse a plan to discuss linking the area’s disparate water systems.
Stung by the drought a few years ago and alarmed by the earthquake in January, the major purveyors say they want to consider linking their water systems with neighbors in order to share in times of emergency.
The Ventura council voted 4 to 0 Monday to allow city officials to begin discussions with officials from the other agencies. Calleguas Municipal Water District has approved the discussions in concept, but has been waiting for at least one other agency to sign off on it before formally approving the talks, said Donald Kendall, the agency’s general manager. Calleguas is a wholesaler that distributes water to Moorpark, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo and Oxnard.
The United Water Conservation District, which replenishes water in underground basins beneath the Oxnard Plain, and which supplies drinking water to Port Hueneme, is scheduled to discuss the issue in July.
The Casitas Municipal Water District, which supplies parts of the Ojai Valley and western Ventura, will also consider the topic at its board meeting next month.
Oxnard’s City Council will debate the subject sometime this summer. The city of Oxnard supplies local water mixed with water from Calleguas to its residents.
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