Once upon a time, Santa Barbara County had a surplus of water.
Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn’t it? Well, here’s the zinger: It’s not.
Only a few decades ago, in 1981, the county asked California’s Department of Water Resources to set aside—or suspend—more than 12,000 acre-feet of state water per year, because it was in excess of Santa Barbara County’s needs. But now, as we stare a fifth consecutive year of drought in the face, a handful of our cities say they need that water back.
Spearheading the effort is Central Coast Water Authority (CCWA). CCWA wrote to the Board of Supervisors in January, asking the county’s Flood Control and Water Conservation District to write to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and request to reacquire that suspended state water from the 1980s. The county complied and sent the request letter in February, and the DWR approved the request in June.
Now, it’s up to CCWA and the county to reach an agreement, at which point Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Solvang, Santa Ynez, and Carpinteria would receive additional water to help buffer potential impacts from the drought.
“It’s going to basically shore up the amount that they currently get from the State Water Project,” CCWA Executive Director Ray Stokes told the Sun. The State Water Project stores and supplies water to 29 urban and agricultural water suppliers around California, including the eight water agencies that compose the CCWA.
Each year, the State Water Project determines how much water the state can provide to each agency based on water studies, Stokes said. Reacquiring an additional 12,214 acre-feet (where 1 acre-foot is equal to nearly 326,000 gallons) of water each year would help supplement what the state provides, in case there’s a shortage.
An Oct. 4 Board of Supervisors agenda letter classified the water in question as “drought buffer” water because the pipelines used by CCWA to deliver water to its member agencies don’t include the capacity for this additional water. Therefore, the reacquired water could only be distributed if a water shortage frees up extra room in the pipelines.
In that case, the drought buffer water would be mixed in with the usual water supply distributed to Santa Maria, Solvang, Guadalupe, Santa Ynez, and Carpinteria. CCWA is already holding about 4,000 acre-feet of drought buffer water, which is available for all eight of its member agencies. However, this additional water would only be allocated to the five agencies in question, because only they elected to take part in the reacquisition.
The five agencies vying for the additional drought buffer water are currently in the process of purchasing it, Stokes said. They’ll have to shell out about $36 million to complete the reacquisition process. This would pay for suspended costs to the DWR, plus interest, and compensate the county for past payments, plus interest.
From then on, the water would cost about $150 per acre-foot, as estimated by the CCWA.
Even though the CCWA says its participating member agencies would be fully liable for the cost of reacquiring the suspended water, the county has some reservations. The issue came to the table at the Board of Supervisors’ Nov. 1 meeting.
At the meeting, the supervisors expressed concern for what would happen if the involved CCWA agencies couldn’t foot the reacquisition bill, at which point the county may be liable. Peter Adam, 4th District supervisor, said he thought the county should have the authority to punish water purveyors who default on what they owe to the state.
In the board letter, Deputy Public Works Director Thomas Fayram wrote that the county and CCWA would have to come up with a contract agreement regarding the water reacquisition. The first item in that agreement: release the county Flood Control and Water Conservation District from any financial liabilities related to the project.
Other items listed in the board letter include mandating CCWA to comply with all state terms and requiring CCWA to pay all costs for completing the reacquisition transaction.
At its Nov. 1 meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to instruct staff to discuss a reacquisition deal with CCWA. Stokes said he hopes to have a tentative agreement put together by the end of the year for the county to consider.
But even then, the reacquisition process will have a long way to go. Once the county and CCWA sign an agreement, the member agencies would have to figure out funding for the transaction. The county, CCWA, and state would then get together to initiate the process and create a project description to submit for CEQA (California Environmental Equality Act) approval. Finally, the county and state would amend their contract, and CCWA and the state would come to a reacquisition agreement.
It’ll be a lengthy, complicated process—but unless this drought is quenched any time soon, the process is necessary.
Stokes said the board will likely resume discussion on the topic early next year.
“We are looking at trying to move forward with this agreement with the county as quickly as possible,” he said. “I’m hoping by the end of next year, we’ll be far along in the process.”
Staff Writer Brenna Swanston can be reached at bswanston@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 10-17, 2016.