Simi Valley Council OKs Funds for Watershed Study

The City Council has authorized spending up to $356,000 as its portion of a study of the region’s watershed.

As required by a waste-water discharge permit the city received from the Los Angeles Regional Water Control Board, the study will provide biological and geological information on the Calleguas Creek Watershed, which includes the Arroyo Simi.

“It’s a large amount of money,” said Ron Coons, the city’s public works director. “However, it is a requirement.”

The study’s results will be used to devise strategies to clean up and protect the watershed, which is where most of Simi Valley’s waste water winds up. The watershed is about 14 miles wide and 35 miles long, running from Simi Valley west to the Pacific Ocean.

The alternative to contributing to the study, Coons told the council Monday, could be much worse: A potential $20-million price tag to upgrade the city’s waste-water treatment plant absent any other plan to protect the Arroyo Simi.

The city also would be in violation of its water-discharge permit, opening itself to penalties imposed by the water quality board, he added.

“You have to do it,” Mayor Bill Davis said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Other participants in the study will be the Calleguas Municipal Water District, city of Thousand Oaks, Camarillo Sanitary District, Camrosa Water District and Ventura County Waterworks District No. 1.

Each participant will contribute to the study based on the size of its waste water treatment needs. Calleguas is picking up half the cost while Thousand Oaks will spend about $20,000 less than Simi Valley.

The study’s total cost is expected to be $1.8 million.