Salt-Removal Plan for Calleguas Creek Called Too Expensive

Fearing an increase of up to $480 a year for the average east county water bill, local officials protested Wednesday against a plan to require the costly removal of chloride salts from Calleguas Creek to improve irrigation water for local farmers.

Local cities and water districts say the proposed requirements would force them to spend tens of millions of dollars on high-tech improvements during the next five years, virtually distilling millions of gallons of already treated water discharge that flows into the creek daily.

Officials say while improving the quality of the watershed is important, they aren’t convinced this expensive option--which makes the waste water clean enough to drink--is the most cost-effective method of reducing chloride.

“It doesn’t change anything on a reliable, consistent basis,” said Don Nelson, director of public works in Thousand Oaks. “We’re not going to take this lying down.”

Bob Westdyke, Camarillo’s public works director, added that his city and others were considering litigation against the regional water agency.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board backed off Wednesday on standards that would have set the same requirement throughout the entire watershed, which includes the affected cities of Moorpark, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley. The new proposal loosens the chloride-removal requirement a bit in Thousand Oaks, for instance, while keeping it tight in the Santa Rosa Valley, where there are more farmers.

The only guaranteed way to remove chloride is through a costly process called reverse osmosis, which forces the salty particles out of water through a system of synthetic membranes. If approved by the water board, cities say they would have to spend up to $70 million constructing enhanced treatment facilities, which would translate to monthly rate hikes ranging from $20 to $40 per household.

The new standards are part of an across-the-board reduction of salts--a process expected to take a decade--that were mandated by a 1999 court settlement between the regional water board and environmental groups.

Regulators say the amount of salt in local water has been increasing and now is the time to stop the trend.

“I think we should look at the canary in the coal mine,” said Melinda Beck, who handles the program for the water board. “It’s an eventuality whether now, or 10 years down the road. . . . If the stakeholders have another way that’s cheaper, that’s wonderful.”

Mixing Waste Water With Imported Supplies

Some cities and water districts say they would rather mix the salty waste water with cleaner water imported from Northern California.

“I want to improve the water, but we can do more creative things,” said Ann DeMartini, general manager of Zone Water, which provides ground water to growers in the Las Posas Valley. “The bottom line is to protect habitat, but there are a lot of methods we can use.”

But regulations the water board must abide by don’t permit it, said Don Kendall, general manager of the Calleguas Municipal Water District, which provides Northern California water to local cities.

Chlorides are a medley of salty pollutants that give drinking water a chalky taste and attack the roots of certain sensitive crops, particularly avocados and strawberries. While a problem elsewhere, chlorides are particularly high in Calleguas Creek.

Not only is the area naturally salty, but the volume of treated sewer water--which includes salt-tinged waste from residential water softeners, soaps and detergents--is only minimally diluted by natural mountain runoff.

Ground Water Used for Irrigation

The watershed is a system of arroyos and creeks that shuttle treated waste water and urban runoff from eastern Ventura County through Camarillo and into Mugu Lagoon.

Most of the area’s drinking water is imported from Northern California, while farmers use ground water for irrigation.

Dealing with chlorides is just the first step in a long process that will include a variety of other salty pollutants outlined in the 1999 settlement. That is why some believe using a reverse osmosis process may be unavoidable in the future.

But Kendall of Calleguas said he believes reverse osmosis may not be required at every waste-treatment plant, and that one or two facilities might suffice.