Drought and water supply

As the unprecedented drought continues, local water agencies are examining potential "new" water sources in the event that our "backup," Lake Casitas,  runs dry.  An April article in the Ventura County Star warned that without rain Lake Casitas could be empty in four (4) years.  The lake level is
continuing to decline, now at 35.5%, a drop of 2.1% since September.  The Ventura River Watershed has remained independent of imported water, but the threat of megadrought has re-opened the discussion.

On Thursday, September 22, 2016 the Casitas Water District sponsored a Regional Drought Summit, (the Presentations are available here, or on YouTube here)  The well attended event was held at the Oak View Resource Center and included a panel of speakers with representatives from City of Ventura, Golden State, Ventura River, Meiners Oaks, and Senior Canyon Municipal Water District.   Ventura River Watershed coordinator Zoe Carlson  provided a short overview on the drought's effect on the watershed.






On November 9th, the Casitas water board received a presentation on a Water Security Project Analysis.  The report and the associated PowerPoint presentation are now available here.

Casitas has been looking at ways to mitigate the effects of the drought on our water supply. The report analyses the technical and financial feasibility of ‘new’ water supply projects. The reports are preliminary, but are a great way to give the public a glimpse of the research Casitas is involved in to secure your water.






This report concludes that the best bet may be a horizontal bore into water-bearing bedrock in the mountains above the lake.  The so-called  "Matilija HoBos" would tap into the Matilija sandstone geologic formation potentially accessing over 29,000 acre feet of water.









 
In the meantime, the City of Ventura is also investigating their options.  A hookup to the State Water Project  would be possible in cooperation with other water agencies, including Casitas.  And at the recent Santa Clara Estuary meeting they announced that the City will be initiating CEQA environmental review for recycling wastewater through Direct Potable Reuse based upon their successful demonstration project.














And now to complete the discussion, Supervisor Steve Bennett has called for a December 1, 2016
forum on ocean desalination.  


If all this sounds familiar, it is.  The debate on state water vs ocean desalination ended when the last drought came to an end in 1994. 

Study's Good News Clouds Water Debate: Ventura, Told that its sources are adequate for 16 years, city may delay plans for either a desalinaton plant or pipeline









In the news:

Desalination in Ventura County called solution for future


More information:

On the Brink: Southern California faces dire, drier future

Casitas Lake Level

Regional Drought Summit 2016 Presentations

Regional Drought Summit 2016 Presentations on YouTube

Santa Clara River Estuary Special Studies

 Ventura Water Pure (wastewater recycling)




More on this blog:

Water Supply

Wastewater


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Aloha Beach Festival

http://www.alohabeachfestival.us/

Many thanks to Chip and Kelly Bell for their generous donation of $10,000 raised by the annual Aloha Beach Festival!

This year, in light of recent progress with the dam removal project, the Bell's designated the Matilija Coalition as their beneficiary of this annual event.

Thanks Chipper Bro!


more info:

Aloha Beach Festival

Dam scissors stickers

Matilija Dam made headline news in 2011 when a giant pair of scissors appeared overnight.  The image is now becoming a symbol of dam removal.

The Matilija Coalition just designed and printed a sticker building on this theme.  More of these will be available soon, so stop by the Patagonia retail stores to get yours!

All good grass-roots campaigns begin with a bumper sticker.  Surfrider printed these in 1995 to spread the word on the sand trap 16 miles up the Ventura River:

On this blog:

Matilija Dam in the news

 

 

Salmon Run 2016

Salmon Run 5K
23 Years in the Making
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Patagonia HQ, Ventura, California

The 23rd Annual Salmon Run, a 5K run/race was held at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, November 6, 2016. The Salmon Run is a benefit event for environmental nonprofits. Over the years, it has raised more than $150,000 to support groups working on important issues right in our own backyard. We hope you can join us this year for a morning of fun and community!
This year's beneficiary is Once Upon a Watershed, an environmental nonprofit that provides watershed education, restoration and stewardship experiences to grade school students in the Ventura River Watershed.

 As always, Surfrider/Matilija Coalition, Friends of the Ventura River, and all of our partner organizations had a table to spread the word on all the good work happening in the community!

Surfrider/Matilija Coalition at 2016 Salmon Run

Matilija Coalition outreach materials

Our new "scissors stickers" were a big hit, and we handed out over 300 of them before we ran out!


Patagonia Salmon Run

Ojai Film Festival 2016

Ojai Valley Green Coalition - FOCUS EARTH

On Sunday Nov 6th, the Ojai Valley Green Coalition sponsored a water-themed afternoon of films and discussion.  The Surfrider Foundation "Cycle of Insanity" short film and a new film titled "Beyond the Mirage: The Future of Water in the West," set the stage for a panel discussion.  The sold-out audience was primarily Ojai residents, eager to learn more about water management during this ongoing drought.

"Beyond the Mirage" explains the tenuous nature of the Colorado River and California State Water projects under the uncertainty of climate change.  It explained how this huge plumbing system has been overallocated, and why decreased snowpack could lead to the failure of a system which has provided for the growth of megacities in the desert southwest, including those in California.

A timely discussion, given the push right now to hook the Ventura River up to state water...


Ojai Valley Green Coalition: The Future of Water Panel Discussion 11.6.16 720 from Ojai Valley Green Coalition on Vimeo.




More info:

Ojai Valley Green Coalition - FOCUS EARTH

Cycle of Insanity

http://beyondthemirage.org/

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#ResurrectTheRiver

Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper recently initiated a campaign to #ResurrectTheRiver

The campaign aims to shine some light on their effort to restore flows in the Ventura River, which is often a complex issue to understand.

This video takes a creative look at the issues:




Visit the website to understand why;

 "Channelkeeper has filed a lawsuit to compel the State Water Board to scientifically analyze the “reasonableness” of the City’s use of the river and to find a workable balance between the competing demands for water and the need and legal responsibility to keep the river alive and flowing."

Sign the petition to show your support for #ResurrectTheRiver

On this blog:

ChannelKeeper sues to save a drying river

 

 

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Matilija Dam in the News

"It is mostly silted up. It has out lived its usefulness. It no longer serves for flood control or water supply for the region and at the same time it blocks fish from coming up so this fits with the statewide priority of trying to deal with these old situations," said Secretary of California Natural Resources Agency John Laird.


Friday Oct 7, 2016 - VC Star


Local, state and federal officials toured the dam Thursday as Peter Sheydayi, interim director of the Ventura County Watershed Protection District, talked about recent steps forward and the work that still needs to happen.  For years, there has been widespread support to tear down the dam above Ojai. The problem is what to do with the about 8 million cubic yards of sediment that has built up behind it over the past six or so decades.

The project to tear down the dam started in 1999, Sheydayi told the small crowd that included John Laird, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, county Supervisor Steve Bennett, U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village, and Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Carpinteria.

"From 2007 until very recently, we were still trying to get Congress to fund this project. We just sort of met with obstacle after obstacle," Schuchat said. The Coastal Conservancy has funded much of the state's share up to now in the process.  Instead, local officials want to look at whether they could fund the project without the Corps of Engineers. For now, that's just something to explore.

After the tour, officials returned to the Watershed Protection District's Saticoy office to talk about funding possibilities.

In the meantime, the next step is to take the concept that the groups agreed to and turn it into engineering drawings. Officials have applied for a grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to pay for that next phase of work.

October 6, 2016: Roundtable Discussion on Matilija Dam convened by Congresswoman Julia Brownley. Paul Jenkin presents the history of the project to federal, state, and local representatives.

KEYT: Matilija Dam one step closer to coming down