2 Agencies Sign Accord on Water Use

Striving to meet Ventura County’s swelling population needs, two local water agencies Wednesday signed an agreement that will allow them to import more water from Northern California and store it in underground reservoirs until it is needed.

Until now, during some wet years, Calleguas Municipal Water District has been unable to use all of its allotted water from the State Water Project because it had insufficient storage capacity.

By joining with United Water Conservation District, which controls vast underground aquifers, Calleguas will be able keep surplus water for a dry day.

“This is something that should have been done 10 years ago,” said Donald Kendall, United Water’s general manager. “The key to solving the water [shortage] problem . . . is storage.”

Calleguas is primarily a water wholesaler, buying water imported from Northern California and selling it to cities around the county.

United is primarily a water conservator, mostly collecting water from the Santa Clara River and storing it in vast subterranean aquifers.

Together, officials from both agencies say, they can make the most efficient use of water for Ventura County residents.

“This county is now growing by leaps and bounds,” said Sheldon Berger, United Water president. “There are going to be a lot of people who need water.”

Patrick Miller, president of Calleguas Municipal Water District, emphasized that the county needs to be smart about water use at a time when California may lose some of its claim to Colorado River water. “Water is becoming very dear. Most of it comes from Northern California or the Colorado River.”

Through Wednesday’s agreement, water officials said they will cooperate on programs to guarantee a more reliable water supply, increase the amount of water available in the region and improve water quality in the county.

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Besides storing excess Northern California water in Ventura County’s aquifers, the districts want to:

* Coordinate water delivery during such emergencies as earthquakes, droughts or ruptured water mains.

* Make non-potable water more easily available to farmers through pipelines.

* Build treatment facilities to raise water-quality standards in the county, as needed.

Both districts emphasized that the new alliance will not increase water rates. If anything, it will lower them, officials said.

Calleguas taps into the state water supply coming from the Sacramento Delta, wholesaling the water to two-thirds of the county. It is one of 27 member agencies of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, providing water to Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo, portions of Oxnard and Port Hueneme, as well as many of the county’s unincorporated areas. The cities, in turn, sell the water to residents.

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United Water stores and conserves water, and also supplies water to Oxnard and Port Hueneme, and many individual well pumpers.

Leaders of both agencies expect water to resurface as a major issue in coming years as development explodes across the state, California receives less Colorado River water and some Northern California water supplies dry up because of dust problems in the Owens Valley.

But the biggest benefit of the unusual alliance between the water districts, representatives said, is that it will provide a safeguard for consumers in times of drought.

“We’ve had five wet years,” Berger said. “But this year is not as wet. . . . This way, if we get a drought situation, everything is in place.”