CASITAS : Water Supply Study Will Be Reviewed

A yearlong study of ways to augment the water supply in western Ventura County will be released Tuesday for public review. The $300,000 study of potential pipeline routes and other alternatives will have a 45-day review period that will include public hearings.

The Casitas Municipal Water District, the lead agency in the proposed $88-million project to pipe water from the California Aqueduct to the western county, authorized the release of the environmental impact report and technical documents prepared by Boyle Engineering Corp. of Ventura.

The cities of Ventura, Port Hueneme, Santa Paula and Fillmore shared the cost of the study with the Casitas water district and the United Water Conservation District. The imported water, expected to be 20,000 acre-feet annually, would serve those cities in addition to Piru, the Ojai Valley and the Channel Islands beach community. An acre-foot is enough water to serve a family of five for one year.

The main study reviewed five ways of dealing with water shortages. They included two pipeline routes for bringing water from the California Aqueduct at Castaic Lake, moving the water down Piru Creek and the Santa Clara River, desalination of ocean water or doing nothing at all. The technical reports look at each alternative in terms of cost and engineering.