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Drought to force water rates up
Out by a mile
By Lea BoyD
“We don’t want to go into water rationing. No one wants to do that.”
Carpinterians will likely start writing bigger checks to Carpinteria Valley Water District when new rates go into effect come July. The district’s board of directors met on March 19 to begin considering their budget for the next fiscal year, and given the $700,000 in potential drought-related expenses and threat of a second –– Water board stage drought declaration, Vice President residential customers are facing an average increase Alonzo Orozco of between $5.50 and $8.53 monthly, while agricultural customers could see their bills increase by an average of $19.41 to $39.75. The higher end of the average rate range would come into effect only if customers fail to voluntarily reduce their water consumption by the 20 percent requested when a stage one drought was declared in February. If water use throughout the district doesn’t meet that mark by August, the board will be asked to consider a stage two drought. Then, instead of required rationing, as districts such as Montecito have done, CVWD is likely to implement a second set of rates that “send a strong price signal” to reduce water use, said Assistant Manager Norma Rosales. “We don’t want to go into water rationing. No one wants to do that,” concluded board Vice President Alonzo Orozco. General Manager Charles Hamilton pointed out that the board is being asked to plan for a year full of “unknowns and question marks.” The biggest unknown, of course, is whether enough wet weather will arrive next winter to pull California out of its drought. Preparing for the worst case scenario of little to no rain, the CVWD board is considering a budget that includes $700,000 in drought related expenses, some of which would be eliminated should storms deliver a substantial amount of precipitation next year. Should the drought break, the district would reduce rates accordingly. CVWD uses a tiered rate system for its residential customers, charging more per unit for high water users. The board is now moving toward implementing a temporary tiered system for agricultural customers as well, one designed to encourage water conservation as drought conditions persist. Board President Matt Roberts and Boardmember June Van Wingerden, both growers, raised concerns over charging higher rates to agricultural customers. Van Wingerden worried about the farmers who rely on private wells but have long paid for unused district water meters as an insurance policy. “If we (implemented a tiered system), I bet all of them would pull their meters,” she said. Carpinteria growers already pay a much higher rate than most other districts to irrigate their crops. In contrast, they are charged significantly less than local residential users because most costs related to meeting drinking water standards are factored out of their rates. When CVWD’s water rates went up during the drought in the late 1980s, there was “a mass exodus of ag customers” from the district, said Rosales. Several
WATER RATES continued on page 15
BIll SwIng
Cate School baseball player Humza Khurshid prepares to apply the tag in a home game against Windward Prep. The Rams baseball squad (1-1) dropped that ballgame but look forward to a season of opportunity on the newly populated Cate School Mesa following spring break. Carpinteria High School baseball will travel up the hill for a city championship match on April 8. See Sports on page 17 for more on Cate baseball and the rest of the studentathletes swinging into spring.
Paredon application resubmittal deemed incomplete Venoco modifies application to include only onshore oil By Peter Dugré
In another go around through the City of Carpinteria planning department, the latest edition of Venoco Inc.’s Paredon Project application was deemed incomplete in a letter from city planners to Venoco dated March 12. The company had resubmitted its resurrected application to drill for oil and natural gas from its Dump Road property on Feb. 10, after receiving a similar notice of incompleteness last year. Venoco has altered its application to include just one exploratory oil well, rather than up to 22 development wells in its previous application, but the city will still analyze the full scope of the oil project beyond exploration phases and needs greater details to do so. Applications for the Paredon Project, which have proposed between 22 and 35 wells into onshore and offshore reserves in and bordering Carpinteria, have been in the planning process at the city since 2004. The application was suspended in 2009 when Venoco sought voter approval for the project through a ballot initiative, Measure J, which lost by a 70 percent to 30 percent margin. It is common for projects of Paredon’s complexity to require multiple application revisions. Carpinteria’s Community Development Director Jackie Campbell said that it took about a year for Venoco’s first Paredon Project application to be deemed complete in 2004. Venoco’s Feb. 10 submittal this year sought a Coastal
Stipulating that the wells will be onshore only is important, because current zoning at the Venoco property allows for drilling onshore but not under the ocean floor. Development Permit for the first phase of the Paredon Project, rather than applying for the entire project through full development at once. In phase one, Venoco proposes drilling a single vertical test well and two sidetrack wells that would terminate onshore, rather than extending under the ocean floor. Stipulating that the wells will be onshore only is important, because current zoning at the Venoco property allows for drilling onshore but not under the ocean floor. In order to fully develop the Paredon Project, Venoco would have to apply for a Local Coastal Program Amendment to modify its zoning, a step not necessary in phase one.
PAREDON continued on page 15