Making Waves : Lake’s Calm About to Be Shattered by Debate Over Recreation

For 37 years, the cool waters of Lake Casitas might just as well have been a mirage for swimmers and water-skiers seeking relief from the Ojai Valley’s summer heat.

The reservoir, a source of drinking water for 60,000 people from Ventura to La Conchita, has long had a policy of look, but don’t touch.

Now, with a $9-million water treatment plant about to open, the “body contact” prohibitions are being reevaluated, touching off a debate as scorching as the summer temperatures.

“I can’t go into the market without expecting to talk about it,” said Conner Everts, 43, the director representing Ojai on the Casitas Municipal Water District board. “It’s a very passionate issue . . . People think the treatment plant comes on line and they can come and jump in the water that day.”

That won’t happen. But discussion that could eventually lead to swimming, water-skiing and other prohibited forms of water recreation begins tonight in the first of a series of public hearings.

At issue is how best to preserve a rural refuge--that boasts a world-class bass fishery and a largely unsullied countryside--while accommodating recreational uses vying for a slice of the lake and its 35-mile shoreline.

It is a complex web of concerns. They include increased air pollution and traffic and safety issues. And they encompass competing and possibly incompatible recreation uses that must be balanced against the environment and drinking water quality.

It’s a debate that has anglers, water-skiers and residents lining up on both sides of the issue and every conceivable point in between.

Anglers and nature lovers formed the Lake Casitas Preservation Society last year with the goal of maintaining the lake’s ecology as well as the status quo in terms of lake uses. Founder Walter Stowe, 37, of Ventura, says the group might accept a pool at the lake park, but not swimming, boating or other activities that could degrade the waters.

“I understand the need for people to cool off, but at the same time jumping into the lake and destroying its habitat I don’t think is the solution,” said Stowe, noting that the group has about 1,300 members. “A lot of people think (such recreation) will enrich their lives, but when they see the deluge of visitors from Los Angeles County that will descend upon the lake, their way of life will be changed for the worse I believe.”

*

Water-skiers, power boaters and other lovers of marine sports have formed a similar organization called “It’s All Over Water,” in support of opening the lake to such activities. The group has issued blue and white bumper stickers to promote its cause that read “Driven too far for too long. Open up Lake Casitas.”

Between the two extremes are divergent opinions held by people who advocate some activities, while excluding others.

Richard Stiles, 52, an Oxnard fisherman and water-skier who has come to the lake since it opened in 1959, believes anglers and water-skiers can coexist despite the traditional enmity between the groups.

“There’s room for both,” he said, adding that segregating different forms of recreation around the lake would lessen the potential for conflict.

But John Wilcox, 55, of Ventura, out fishing Tuesday on his brand new $25,000 powerboat, said water-skiing would ruin the fishery. He said when he wants to water-ski, he’ll go to Lake Piru.

“This lake is too nice and beautiful to be used for jet skiing and water-skiing,” he said. “I like jet skiing, but there’s certain areas you can jet ski--Piru, the ocean--but not Casitas.”

*

The water district has already lifted a ban on canoeing and kayaking as part of a pilot program that is due to end in August. That program is likely to be extended, officials say.

Restrictions on those activities include special clothing to ensure no contact with the water and required membership in the recently formed Lake Casitas Canoe & Kayak Club.

Yet nearly 100 people have joined. And apart from a powerboat that intentionally swamped a canoe and plunged two people into the lake recently, conflicts and problems have been few, club President Tim Dewar said.

State law prohibits body contact with water in reservoirs intended for drinking, although there are exceptions if the water is treated, as it will be at Lake Casitas later this summer.

However, special legislation must be enacted before Casitas can become another exception. Local legislators want no part of a polarized conflict and are willing to sponsor a bill only if local residents reach consensus on lake use, said John Johnson, district general manager.

To that end, a panel that would develop proposed recreation policies for Casitas is expected to be appointed tonight.

But officials say that implementation of new policies at the lake is at least a year away. And they say that any increase of recreational activities cannot overshadow the lake’s primary purpose of providing clean drinking water.

“There’s something sacred about a body of water,” Everts said. “The ultimate question ends up being, Whose water is it anyway? As with any resource, it’s all of ours.”

’ I understand the need for people to cool off, but jumping into the lake and destroying its habitat I don’t think is the solution.’ Walter Stowe, Lake Casitas Preservation Society

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

FYI

The Casitas Municipal Water District will hold the first of a series of public hearings tonight at 7 to consider broadening the range of recreation uses at Lake Casitas. The meeting will be held at the Oak View Community Center, 18 Valley Road, Oak View. Subsequent meetings: 7 p.m. Aug. 14 at the community center to receive public input; daylong planning session from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 14 at unspecified Ventura locations to review recreation proposals made by appointed committee; 7 p.m. Nov. 12. at the community center to review proposed plan.