Camarillo City Council: Water conservation update

decease arial, medications sans-serif;”>By Logan McFadden

medicine arial,sans-serif;”>Staff presented a brief water conservation report at the Camarillo City Council meeting on September 9, 2015. The City initiated a long-term planning and action strategy ten years ago. The plan has resulted in compliance with Governor Brown’s executive order to reduce water usage by 25% statewide based on a 2013 baseline. Based on Camarillo’s positive water use history, the City’s goal was set at 20% to achieve compliance. The water strategy includes the following:

1) Water conservation
2) Recycled water – Customers are using 2 million gallons per day. The City can produce up to 4 million gallons per day
3) Water desalter plant – Gives the City more control over future water rates
4) No impact from new water hookups

The City’s Water Department services about 67% of Camarillo’s residents. The remaining residents are served by other providers which have set different conservation goals based upon water usage history. For example, Camarillo has a Stage 2 water conservation alert. Camarillo Springs residents have a Stage 3 alert set by the Camrosa Water District.

Statewide compliance was started in June. Camarillo Water District exceeded its conservation goal in June and July at approximately 23%. The City has implemented new landscape guidelines to encourage conversion to drought friendly plants and partial artificial turf. The City offers free residential water surveys (805-388-5373) and water conservation links at its City website. Another resource is the website www.bewaterwise.com.

The City staff is working to develop a comprehensive water plan. The plan will address existing residential and commercial properties and new construction. The City Council recognizes its water plan must be fair to existing customers. Therefore, the final plan is being structured to have no impact to current customers. Mayor Little summarized the goal as “developers must bring water to the table”.

Residents have commented at previous Council meetings that communication from the City to its residents has been lacking. Accordingly, the City Council is tentatively planning a Town Hall meeting on October 5th to lay out the water plan and hear public comments. The City plans to act upon recommendations at the regular October 14th City Council meeting.

The Noise Element Update is one of seven mandatory elements of the City’s General Plan. The primary purpose of the element is to limit the exposure of the community to excessive noise intrusion. The updated Noise Element includes noise guidelines and policies to achieve and maintain land uses that are compatible with current and projected environmental noise levels. The Noise Element was last updated in 1996. The Council was given a presentation on the results of recent studies performed by a consultant. The studies have been reviewed by Council members in study sessions, by the Citizens Advisory Committee, and the Planning Commission.

The update is based upon noise levels tested in February and March of this year. Sensitive areas such a residential, schools and libraries were primarily evaluated on traffic noise. A 20 year projection of future noise levels was developed based upon growth assumptions. The impact of sound walls and berms has mitigated existing noise and is incorporated into the projections. Vice Mayor Mike Morgan said these mitigations have worked well to minimize the impact of noise from increased traffic on the 101 freeway. The final projections are based upon the average noise levels over the course of one day. Louder noise from the airport and the Naval Air Station are factored in as a series of short-term peaks offset by quiet periods of no air traffic.

During the public hearing, one resident asked why the City pays for the Noise study data and projections and then approves new projects that increase noise. Vice Mayor Mike Morgan explained that new ordinances arise from study’s recommendations. He also emphasized that the City has taken positive steps to mitigate noise.

The Friends of the Channel Islands Energy Choices (Friends) gave a presentation on communities that have pooled electricity from a variety of sources, including solar, wind and conventionally generated power. The consortium sells the power to the public utility which delivers electricity to customers via its distribution system. The consortium’s proposed area encompasses communities in Ventura and South Santa Barbara counties. The average utility bill is 5% – 8% lower. Job growth is impacted by an operations staff and local energy projects.

The energy sources are generally spread out geographically and the communities can buy electricity from other out-of-state utility companies in the event that captive sources fail to generate enough power due to a cloudy day or no wind. The participating communities first meet their own needs and then sell surplus energy. Each community can opt in or opt out. A community that opts out buys power from Southern California Edison, presumably at a higher cost. The Friends is funding a feasibility study based in part on actual operations in other California counties. The Council was asked to participate in the study financially and agreed to consider the request.

Ventura County Coastal Cleanup Day is Saturday, September 19th from 9 am to noon. The mission of the Ventura Countywide Coalition for Coastal and Inland Waterways is promoting clean and healthy beaches, rivers and creeks throughout Ventura County. Local residents can choose to volunteer at two sites; Mission Oaks Barranca or Calleguas Creek. In 2014, 300 volunteers collected 700 pounds of debris. In all of Ventura County, there were 3,010 volunteers who collected 9,681 pounds of debris. For more information, visit www.vccoastcleanup.org.

Camarillo Council Meeting Archive

==============================
Logan McFadden is a Citizensjournal.us city reporter and a recently retired banker, residing in Camarillo. He volunteers for the Heritage Action Sentinel team and serves as the AMAC Delegate to the 26th Congressional District.

Get Citizensjournal.us Headlines free  SUBSCRIPTION. Keep us publishing – DONATE

*Scroll down to post a comment