An opinion piece published in local papers in support of the Ventura WaterPure recycling plant misses the most important concern; by locating it in the floodplain, this expensive infrastructure is not considering the cost to future generations. Ironically, the same issue of the Breeze includes an article titled "The Great Flood Ventura County 1969 – A Cautionary Tale?" The letter to the editor below connects the dots.
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| https://venturabreeze.com/environmental-concerns-future-water-supply/ |
RE: Why VenturaWaterPure matters to my generation
Sarabelen Lopez April 22, 2026
Sarabelen is so right, “nature isn’t just part of the scenery.” In Ventura we are blessed with two rivers and the Pacific Ocean, but it seems we keep making the same mistakes.
More than thirty years ago, the City of Ventura constructed a bike path right on the shoreline at Surfers Point. The ocean soon reclaimed the beach, and it took decades to undo the mistake. Today the relocated bike path is protected by imported cobble and constructed dunes that are much more than just scenery. In the end, that $200,000 bike path cost $20 million to fix, entirely because decision makers did not understand and respect the forces of nature.
Unfortunately the City of Ventura is planning to repeat the same mistake, only this time billions of dollars are on the line. In "The Great Flood Ventura County 1969” the Santa Clara River jumped its banks and flowed through the wastewater treatment plant and into the Ventura marina. Broken pipes spilled raw sewage into the ocean for weeks.
Now Ventura has decided that the WaterPure plant should be built right in the path of this historic flood. Only this time it’s different. It is well established that climate change will cause sea levels to rise by many feet over the coming century. Combined with ever more powerful atmospheric rivers, this location will be subject to unimaginable flooding.
Rather than doubling down on this hazardous site, the city should be planning to relocate all water and wastewater infrastructure to higher ground out of harms way. To do anything else is an insult to the next generation.
- Paul Jenkin
In the News:
Why VenturaWaterPure matters to my generation | Your Turn, Sarabelen Lopez, Ventura County Star, April 21, 2026
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| https://venturabreeze.com/the-great-flood-ventura-county-1969-a-cautionary-tale/ |
On this Blog:
1969 Floods and Ventura wastewater
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