Ventura reaches settlement, agrees to reuse millions of gallons of highly treated sewage water
Kevin Clerici
Ventura County Star
08/17/2011
Ventura officials announced Wednesday a settlement agreement to spend up to $55 million to redirect and possibly reuse millions of gallons of heavily treated sewage water that currently flows into the Santa Clara River from a city treatment facility. Ventura ratepayers will be responsible for covering most of the expense.
The agreement caps a protracted legal battle with the Wishtoyo Foundation and its Ventura Coastkeeper program, which sued the city last year alleging the treatment plant was releasing inadequately treated sewage harmful to sensitive water species in the river estuary. Environmental firm Heal the Bay also has raised concerns about the daily volume, some 9 million gallons, being released from the city's sole plant into the estuary, where the river's current meets the sea's tide.
Under the settlement, which would resolve all legal issues, the city agrees to attempt to reuse at least 50 percent and possibly all of the treated effluent. Presently, about 3 percent is used to water the city's two golf courses. The volume not reused would be sent to a future, engineered "treatment wetland" for greater filtration. The location of the wetland has yet to be determined, officials said. Some possibly could be pumped across the river into the Oxnard Plain to help replenish and protect groundwater resources there from saltwater intrusion from the ocean, officials said.
The city committed to design, permit and construct the diversion infrastructure by 2025, the settlement shows.
While many details still must be ironed out, the settlement includes a monetary cap for improvements at $55 million, which largely will be shouldered by the city's 32,000 households and business customers. One estimate put the cost at $3.52 per month per average household through 2055. And that's not counting other likely rate increases needed to pay for infrastructure upgrades throughout Ventura's decades-old water and wastewater system.
In a joint news conference at the treatment plant where the agreement's general outline was unveiled, Ventura Mayor Bill Fulton said the settlement would vastly increase the amount of treated wastewater the city reuses. That, in turn, would help reduce the city's drain on precious groundwater and Ventura River supplies. The city also may be able to sell some of the reclaimed supplies to help offset some costs.
With Coastkeeper attorney Jason Weiner sitting feet away, the mayor said the agreement also would enhance the city's relationship with the environmental community, which has been critical of the quality of the city's discharge.
"I am looking forward to having Jason as a partner, rather than a litigation opponent," he said.
Weiner called the deal "historic" and a "win-win" that will improve the health of the river ecosystem and aquatic wildlife, including the endangered steelhead.
He felt the city was in good position in a water scarce region to one day be able to sell its reclaimed water to help recoup the high infrastructure expense.
"We think this is economically and ecologically the right thing to do," Weiner said.
Several other environmental organizations, resource agencies and special-interest groups have been watching closely, including Friends of the Santa Clara River, Heal the Bay, Ventura Audubon Society, and The Nature Conservancy.
