Newhall Project Needs New Water Sources, Expert Says

A water expert for the agency that helped stall the Newhall Ranch housing project said Friday that he thinks the developers will be forced to shop around California for new sources of water if they ever expect to build the 22,000-home mini-city along the Santa Clara River on the western edge of Los Angeles County.

The project would require an estimated 17,680 acre-feet of water--the equivalent of 442,000 backyard swimming pools--each year.

In a ruling this week, Kern County Superior Court Judge Roger D. Randall said the project’s environmental impact report fails to prove it can actually deliver much of the water it has the rights to from the State Water Project.

Without the water, during years of drought, Newhall Ranch would have to rely more heavily on reclaimed water, which can be used for irrigation, and conservation methods such as injecting water into aquifers in wet years so it can be tapped as needed.

But Randall found in his ruling that the developer, Newhall Land and Farming Co., hadn’t sufficiently studied how effectively the aquifers could hold the injected water. The judge also said that if the firm’s predictions were wrong, it could hurt the project and, potentially, Ventura County users downstream, including a $1-billion agriculture industry.

Satisfying Randall’s concerns means hiring experts and conducting extensive research, including the creation of a ground water model that could calculate the impacts of increased pumping, said Steve Bachman, ground water manager for the United Water Conservation District in Santa Paula.

Even after those studies are done, Bachman said, “I think they need to get more outside sources of water,” a prospect he said is becoming more and more difficult as Southern California’s population increases, environmental protections intensify, other states tap more into the Colorado River and the city of Los Angeles’ predicted water supply diminishes.

Newhall Land and Farming has downplayed the impact of the ruling.

Spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer on Friday maintained that the company could prove within a year that its plan is technically sound.

“A lot of the information we already have, we just have to put it in a manner that crosses all the Ts and dots the I’s,” she said.

Bob Sagehorn, general manager of the Castaic Lake Water Agency, which has agreed to help serve Newhall Ranch, said he believes that the massive housing development--the largest ever approved in Southern California--can still be built without drawing on new water sources across the state.

His agency recently acquired the rights to 41,000 acre-feet of water each year from Kern County. A portion of the water would be available for Newhall Ranch, he said.

Randall did not consider that as a definite water source in his ruling, because the agency did not have the rights at the time the environmental impact report was complete.

But as the project goes back to the drawing board, the water from Castaic could be including in a revised report.

“We’re going to be available to tell their water story as we see it,” Sagehorn said. “In my opinion I think they will have the water. It will be our mission to help them meet those future needs.”

Randall did acknowledge the water rights in his ruling, but said that only half the 41,000 acre-feet would be available, based on historical information about water use. The judge concluded that the overall water availability was too uncertain to allow the project to go forward.

The company has not decided whether to appeal Randall’s decision, but Lauffer said Newhall also hasn’t ruled out seeking water from outside sources.

“I’m not going to answer those questions at this time,” she said. “We’re just in the earliest stages. We’re rolling up our sleeves and trying to understand what [Randall is] looking for.”

“Our primary focus is that we need to provide more specifics on how the flows from Castaic Creek can be stored and used,” she said. “But there’s absolutely no question that we have the water to serve Newhall Ranch.”

Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long said the company has more to overcome than it admits. “If you’d asked me two months ago, I would have said they’d get maybe 8,000 homes. Now they may be stuck with none.”

Separately, the state Public Utilities Commission is holding hearings on whether Valencia Water Co., a Newhall subsidiary, should be allowed to increase the ground water it pumps for other projects--a request that’s caught the attention of Ventura County lawyers in light of Newhall’s promise not to pump additional ground water.

Meanwhile, state officials are concerned about lowered water quality in the Santa Clarita Valley because pumping has already increased throughout the area, said Antonette Cordero, assistant Ventura County counsel.

Randall’s ruling also demanded further study of the project’s impacts on traffic, wildlife and Ventura County.

Newhall Ranch would take an estimated 25 years to build once construction began. It would provide housing for 70,000 residents and span 12,000 acres near Six Flags Magic Mountain.