In Santa Clarita, It’s All About Who Controls the Spigot

Campaign placards touting candidates for a little-known water board outnumber signs for all other races in this community where the issue of sufficient water to quench the thirst of booming development is a hot topic.

Seven challengers are seeking to unseat three incumbents on the Castaic Lake Water Agency, which is the sole wholesaler of state water supplies to four water retailers. The agency has come under fire in recent months for reported lavish spending on consultants and employees, as well as its policies on financing projects and the purchase of a private water company.

Directors, including the three veterans up for reelection, defend their actions and point to low water rates as evidence of their performance. With few exceptions, incumbents typically have won reelection to the board, which was formed in 1962.

Incumbents this year include board president William C. Cooper, Jerry Gladbach and William Pecsi, who was appointed to an open seat. Each represents one of three divisions within the agency, which supplies about half the water used in households and businesses in a 195-square-mile area. The other half is pumped from ground water in two aquifers in the Santa Clarita Valley, largely along the Santa Clara River.

The agency operates the Rio Vista Treatment Plant in Saugus, the Earl Schmidt Filtration Plant at Castaic Lake, two pump stations, two storage facilities and more than 17 miles of transmission pipeline. Its territory includes all of the Santa Clarita Valley and a tiny slice of largely unpopulated land along California 126 in Ventura County.

*

For 12 years, environmentalists have sought seats on the 11-member board, hoping to stem the agency’s endorsement of major new developments. Only two currently serve on the board, which includes four appointed positions and seven elected seats. Elections and appointments, held in alternate years, are for a four-year term. Winners in this year’s election will begin their terms in January.

Three candidates are challenging Cooper in Division 1, which includes Canyon Country and portions of Saugus and Newhall. Cooper, 53, has been on the board for eight years, serving the last five as president. He is a water systems manager for the Metropolitan Water District, operating its Orange County facilities.

A resident for 28 years, he said, “Water is my business.”

“Responsible water management is essential if we are to continue to have the quality of life we enjoy in the Santa Clarita Valley,” Cooper said.

Challenger Donald R. Gaskin, 47, principal of the North Valley Occupational Center in Granada Hills and president of the Princess Park Homeowners Assn. in Newhall since 1988, is a critic of the board. Gaskin says he favors “controlled growth as opposed to runaway growth.”

Loren K. Lauthan, 37, a computer network administrator, said he was motivated to seek election “by reports of things that are going wrong. I think some new ideas are in order.”

Brian Roney, 40, general manager of a marine dealership at Castaic, has attended board meetings for eight years and is making his second bid for election. “I have seen the lack of fiscal responsibility. They have spent a lot of money where they don’t need to.”

Gladbach, a resident for 33 years, is a retired water quality engineer serving as the elected representative in Division 2, which includes Newhall and parts of Valencia. His campaign brochure highlights his support for higher fees for developers and his opposition to a controversial gravel mining proposal.

His opponents include Henry J. Schultz, 54, an engineer and scientist who also serves as chairman of the Santa Clarita Valley Sierra Club and as a parks and recreation commissioner for Santa Clarita. He is critical of a number of board actions, which he said “has driven development by pretending they have water when in fact they don’t.”

Another candidate, Mark Baldwin, a bus driver, could not be reached for comment.

*

Appointed two years ago, Pecsi is the incumbent in Division 3, which includes Castaic, Stevenson Ranch and parts of Saugus and Valencia. Pecsi could not be reached Friday for comment.

He also is opposed by an environmentalist, Phil Hof, 42, a project engineer and member of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment. He criticized the agency as “closed and wasteful,” saying, “I want to bring efficiency, openness and honesty to the board. Water is going to direct the future of our valley.”

Charles E. Valvo, a small-business owner, also is seeking election but could not be contacted.