Water Boards Sued Over Projections

Two lawsuits have been filed against four Santa Clarita Valley water agencies alleging they have overstated water supplies and understated demand from the 21,600-unit Newhall Ranch and other projects, officials said Tuesday.

The defendants are the Castaic Lake Water Agency, Newhall County Water District, Santa Clarita Water Co. and Valencia Water Co.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in Ventura County Superior Court, the Sierra Club and the Friends of the Santa Clara River said the agencies have used inaccurate projections based on “paper” water rights that may never materialize, said Stephan Volker, attorney for the two environmental groups.

Environmentalists also fear that the water agencies are over-pumping two Santa Clarita water sources--the aquifer under the Santa Clara River and the Saugus aquifer, Volker said.

He said the suit was filed in Ventura County because many of the downstream areas of the Santa Clara River will be hardest hit. Also, the Castaic Lake Water Agency serves about a 20-square-mile area in Ventura County.

Henry Schultz, chairman of the Santa Clarita chapter of the Sierra Club, said the water agencies base much of their supply projections on expected deliveries from the State Water Project. “We usually get 50% of that if we are lucky,” he said. “In a drought, we may get none.”

All four water agencies were also served with a similar suit filed last Friday by Ventura County, a staunch foe of the proposed Newhall Ranch project. That suit also questions the adequacy of future water supplies, considering the Santa Clarita Valley’s rapid development.

Ventura County’s suit centers on a water agency projection of 96,000 water hookups needed by the year 2020. But the Southern California Assn. of Governments has estimated that 149,215 new households will need water by that year, according to the lawsuit.

Officials at the Castaic water agency said Tuesday they had just received Ventura County’s lawsuit and were still reviewing it.

“Unfortunately, this lawsuit, and any others that may be filed, will only result in costly legal expenses for the citizens of the Santa Clarita Valley,” read a statement issued by the Castaic Lake Water Agency.

The water plan was developed by “an outstanding team of consulting engineers and financial advisors,” and the public had opportunity to comment, according to the statement.