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Rivers & Estuaries

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The City of Ventura is bordered by the Santa Clara River to the south and the Ventura River to the north.

 

 

 

Celebrate the Santa Clara River Watershed

As part of local interest to celebrate Watershed Awareness Month, public/private agencies and nonprofits that form the Santa Clara River Watershed Committee, will host a series of events to celebrate the Santa Clara River Watershed.  Over 60 people attended a kickoff event on Wednesday, May 2nd from 4-7 pm at the Hansen Agricultural Center (Faulkner Farm).  Speakers included Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long and John Krist from the Farm Bureau that highlighted the accomplishments and challenges in protecting the watershed.  In addition, local organizations displayed posters featuring watershed programs and projects.  During the month of May, the posters are available for viewing at the Ventura County Administration building. Check back here or the Ventura County Watersheds Coalition for more information about May events to celebrate our watersheds.

Santa Clara River Watershed Tours: Saturdays, May 12 and 19

Celebrate the Ventura River Watershed

 

Ventura is fortunate to be home to two important watersheds.  Plan on attending some of the educational and fun activities also planned to celebrate  the Ventura River during the month of May.  From guided hikes to olive oil tasting, there is an event for everyone to get involved and learn more about protecting this beautiful river. 

Ventura River Watershed Awareness Calendar (pdf 1277KB)

Ventura River Watershed Awareness Event Information (pdf 99KB)

Ventura County Watershed Coalition

 

 

Ventura Water and Public Interest Groups Protect Santa Clara River Estuary with Settlement

On December 12, 2011, the City Council approved the final agreement between Ventura Water, Heal the Bay, and Wishtoyo Foundation’s Ventura Coastkeeper Program that will, by 2025, forever change how the City’s reclamation facility uses and discharges its highly treated water into the Santa Clara River Estuary.  The approval vote followed 120 days of extensive public outreach, including a Town Hall meeting on November 10 which was attended by nearly 50 residents and other interested stakeholders. 

The settlement will resolve a long-standing debate about the impact of the tertiary treated water on the sensitive ecology of the Estuary as well as associated legal and administrative actions against the City.  Innovative in its approach, the settlement outlines common goals and a collaborative process which relies on the best available science to decide how to use the reclaimed water produced by the wastewater facility in the future.   The major points of the long-term settlement include:

  • Creating opportunities to use between 50-100% of the treated water for landscaping or other non-drinking uses to stretch water supplies and reduce the amount released into the Estuary
  • If any treated water is still released into the Estuary, a treatment wetlands will be constructed to further improve water quality
  • Working together with Ventura Water’s customers to arrive at the most responsible and sustainable solution for the health of the Estuary and Ventura’s water supply by 2025.

The total costs of these projects is capped at $55 million in today's dollars, with an inflationary factor to be applied for future costs. The different options to fund this program were evaluated during Ventura Water’s Cost of Service and Rate Design Study and as a result, the proposed water and wastewater rates include an Estuary Protection Charge as a separate cost.  Since the proposed rates are for the next two years and the collaborative process will continue in a planning phase during this time, the Advisory Committee recommended that the monies generated by the charge, if approved, should be used for planning expenses only. 

If your group or organization would like to schedule a presentation about the settlement or if you would like more information, please contact Nancy Broschart at nbroschart@venturawater.net.  Here are the links to:

Council Meeting Powerpoint Presentation (December 12, 2011)

Council Administrative Report (December 12, 2011 - pdf 9.96MB)

Town Hall Meeting Powerpoint Presentation (November 10, 2011)

Ventura's Water Future: Video Overview of Settlement (November 8, 2011)

Santa Clara River Estuary Settlement Town Hall Meeting Press Release (November 1, 2011)

City Manager Rick Cole's Blog: At what price do we protect our water? (October 28, 2011)

Ventura Water and Public Interest Groups Protect Santa Clara River Estuary with Settlement Press Release
(August 17, 2011)

Santa Clara River Estuary Settlement FAQs (August 17, 2011)

Memorandum of Agreement Regarding Settlement Terms (August 11, 2011- pdf 3,751KB)

Santa Clara River Special Studies

In order to keep our community safe and healthy, Ventura’s Water Reclamation Facility (VWRF) treats the wastewater generated by the City’s 30,000 homes to stringent standards before releasing the clean water to the Santa Clara River Estuary (Estuary). This water is regulated with a permit issued by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), which is renewed every five years. During the 2008 re-issuance process, controversy arose on whether or not the City should be permitted to continue its current volume of water released into the Estuary.

While some parties wanted the RWQCB to revoke the existing exemption to State water policy, which allows the discharge, others, including resource agencies such as NOAA Fisheries and California Department of Fish and Game, did not want any decrease in the amount of the current discharge until all alternatives were evaluated thoroughly to allow for the best ecologically sustainable alternative since the discharge supports the Estuary’s endangered species and enhancement of its habitat value.

Therefore, the Discharge Permit issued by the RWQCB allowed continuation of the discharge but required Ventura Water to perform three extensive studies which include:

The special studies along with the associated stakeholder processes are designed to provide information necessary to support development of a sustainable discharge regime. In the end, these studies will result in the issuance of a Discharge Permit for the future that will allow the City to utilize its recycled water as a valuable resource, balancing this benefit with the additional environmental benefits of sustaining the critical habitat for endangered species in the Estuary.

Ongoing Efforts and Next Steps

In April 2009, the City hired the consulting team of Carollo Engineers and Stillwater Sciences to perform the special studies. The consulting team spent several months collecting data to determine what information was missing in order to create a monitoring plan to addresses needed information. The missing information is summarized below in the Estuary Subwatershed Study Data Gaps Table. The Final Estuary Monitoring Plan is available below for review.

A series of five workshops were held from 2009 to February 2011, in which the results of the three studies were disucssed.  The Recycled Water Market Study and the Treatment Wetlands Feasibility Study were submitted to the RWQCB in March 2010 as required by the NPDES permit.  The submitted reports are available as links below.  

Interconnect Option Feasibility Study Underway

Kennedy Jenks Consultants is currently preparing a feasibility study for another option that incorporates regional benefits: discharging treated effluent from the VWRF to the City of Oxnard’s Advanced Water Purification Facility (AWPF).  The desalted water is envisioned to provide beneficial reuse as a seawater intrusion barrier through groundwater injection as well as reuse for irrigation.  This option will also include investigating discharge to the City of Oxnard’s ocean outfall and/or the Salinity Management Pipeline being construction by Calleguas Municipal Water District.  All three interconnection locations are within the same general vicinity. This alternative would require approximately 10 miles of pipeline to transport treated effluent from the VWRF to the interconnect location(s) in Oxnard. This alternative has the potential to provide Ventura Water and other local agencies with regional groundwater benefits and may have lower operation and maintenance costs when compared to other alternatives to reuse the treated water.

Participant Resources

Related Reports

Final Santa Clara River Estuary Subwatershed Study

Comments to Final Estuary Subwatershed Study

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board approved the extension of comments to the March 6, 2011 Final Report  to July 15, 2011.  

The following are comment letters received by Ventura Water.

 

 Event Information

August 18, 2011 stakeholder meeting materials:

February 10, 2011 stakeholder meeting materials:

Sept. 28, 2010 stakeholder meeting materials:

Feb. 2, 2010 stakeholder meeting materials:

Nov. 10, 2009 stakeholder meeting materials:

July 15, 2009 stakeholder meeting materials:

Order/Permit Documentation

Ventura Water is currently discharging up to 14 million gallons per day of tertiary treated wastewater from the Ventura Water Reclamation Facility, under an order/permit from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality
Control Board which includes:

  1. Waste Discharge Requirements Package
  2. Attachment G & H
  3. Attachment I
  4. Attachment K
  5. Attachment L
  6. Attachment M (Summer)
  7. Attachment M (Winter)
  8. Attachment N

For More Information

If you are interested in participating, or have questions regarding information posted on this website, please contact Karen Waln at kwaln@cityofventura.net.