VENTURA : Desalination Not a Priority, Report Says

Ventura’s existing water supply should last for the next 15 years, so the city will not need to build a desalination plant any time soon, according to a report approved Monday by the City Council.

The plan recommends that the council and city staff members keep an eye on the water situation in coming years, but refrain from making plans until the supply falls near a critical level. Residents voted in 1992 to build a desalination plant if the water supply again became scarce.

Based on a study the council received in February--citing conservation, an increased supply from Lake Casitas and more water banking--the report states that a supplemental supply will not be immediately necessary.

The report, titled the Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan, is the product of months of work by the council’s three-member utility committee, made up by Mayor Tom Buford and Councilmen Steve Bennett and Jack Tingstrom.