Plan OKd to Import Water for Santa Clarita Valley

The Castaic Lake Water Agency has approved a $48-million plan to import water from Kern County to supply the thousands of new homes projected in the Santa Clarita Valley area over the next two decades.

The action, taken in two separate votes by the board at special meetings Monday and Tuesday nights, will provide 41,000 acre-feet of state water entitlements to the agency, which serves the Santa Clarita Valley.

There are 326,000 gallons in one acre-foot, enough to supply two average-size families for one year, according to water officials.

Critics said the acquisition will boost water rates and encourage developers to build more homes.

Defending the deal, water board Vice President Donald Froelich said the agency had a rare opportunity to buy entitlements from the Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District.

He also said it’s a move to meet the water supply of homes that have already been approved for construction.

“Using water to control growth has never worked,” Froelich said. “I support people who have concerns about growth. It’s a legitimate point, but addressing it through the backdoor with water is what I question.”

The environmental impact report to import the water was approved on a 9-2 vote Monday. The plan to spend $48 million out of agency reserves to buy the entitlements and to get the water delivered was approved on a 7-2 vote Tuesday.

Dissenting votes both nights were cast by board members Ed Dunn and Michael Kotch.

Froelich said the agency will dip into its reserves to pay the $48 million up front and may borrow in the future if connection fees, which will just about double for new homes on July 1, can’t replenish the depleted reserve funds quickly enough.

Dunn and Kotch argued that a new water treatment plant would have to be built to handle the water and that the interest from borrowing would push the cost over $100 million. If the projected homes aren’t built, water rates will have to be increased, Dunn and Kotch argued.

Scott Ellison, Ventura County’s senior planner, said the agency would also face a problem if the state for some reason could not deliver the water. In that case, he said, the agency would be forced to depend more on limited ground-water supplies.