CMWD Elects To Take On Federal Plan

Board believes management of recreation area may be BOR power grab

By Daryl Kelley
In a move that highlights growing tensions with federal officials, directors of the Casitas Municipal Water District decided Monday to spend up to $25,000 to have legal and environmental experts review a new federal plan for management of the Lake Casitas Recreation Area and a large open space preserve next to it.
In a special meeting, Casitas board members said they think the new plan may be a power grab by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that could undermine the water district’s mandate to provide clean water to residents of the Ojai Valley and Ventura.
The federal bureau, which built the Casitas Dam and waterworks more than 50 years ago, has called an Aug. 28 meeting in Oak View to publicly review the new plan.
But the Casitas agency, which was created to oversee water distribution from the dam’s reservoir and now manages its recreational facilities, was surprised by the lack of early notification of the meeting and by the contents of the new 300-page-plus document.
Indeed, the bureau’s public announcement of the meeting said Casitas was a co-host and that the new plan had been developed by the federal and local entities. Casitas board members said they are not hosts of the meeting, and will only attend as a member of the public.
And they sharply disagreed with many of the proposals in the new plan that are listed as possible management schemes.
“We’re not happy with this,” said board President Jim Word.
“They’re either totally obtuse or they have a hidden agenda,” said Director Bill Hicks.
Since federal and local officials have been discussing the issues in the report for nearly a decade in preparation for the document’s release, board members said federal officials know the directors’ positions on key issues, but chose to ignore them.
Among the apparent directions in which federal officials seem to be moving, members said, is turning over management of the 3,500-acre Teague Watershed area north of Lake Casitas to the U.S. Forest Service, rather than leaving it under control of the Casitas board.
The watershed, purchased by an act of Congress in the 1970s, was intended to be left as open space once a handful of residents who lived there had died. Only two such residents remain. But under the new plan, the U.S. Forest Service would have a station there and camping and horseback riding might be allowed. Casitas officials said they think such activities could pollute the lake with toxic runoff.
“The Teague Watershed is not being used for anything now, and we’re still getting a blue-green algae on the lake,” said Director Russ Baggerly. “If they turn that over (for activities) we’re done for ... This is going to cost us a ton of money if we don’t get control of that land.”
Secondly, the Bureau of Reclamation seems to favor allowing swimming and water skiing at the lake, which now allows no body contact with reservoir water because of water quality concerns.
And thirdly, the Bureau wants to rewrite its contract with Casitas to expand the federal government’s role in all aspects of management of the park, Casitas officials said.
Indeed, the bureau issued a cease-and-desist order in 2003, prohibiting Casitas from making any more changes at the recreation area after Casitas built its popular, money-making water park without federal approval. Construction of the park sparked a legal challenge by environmental groups. Now, Casitas may not change the recreation area at all without federal approval until the new resource management plan is adopted.
The question, board members said, is what Casitas should do about what they see as a federal move to undermine powers given the water district by Congress and legal contracts.
The board decided to write a letter to the bureau, notifying officials that they are not co-hosts of the public meeting Aug. 28 at the Oak View Community Center and asking for more time after the meeting so experts in federal environment and water law may critique the new bureau plan. For now, Casitas has only a month after next week’s meeting to submit responses.
Director Richard Handley asked his colleagues whether they should pass a resolution to let the bureau know Casitas would take whatever action is necessary to protect the water quality of Lake Casitas.
“To me there really seems to be a very basic conflict about who has the authority (in the Teague Watershed),” Handley said. “I’m an elected official in the management of this lake, and I’m being left out of the loop.”
But his colleagues said such a pointed resolution should follow next week’s hearing and expert evaluation of the federal plan.
Board member Baggerly said Casitas ought to move with measured steps, because the bureau’s regional director, Michael Jackson, is a reasonable person who listens.
“We at some point might really need the regional director to be on our side,” said Baggerly. “So we need to do this in a firm but gentlemanly way.”
The board decided to invite Jackson to next Thursday’s meeting to make sure he is fully informed of Casitas’ concerns about the proposed management plan.
Steve Wickstrum, general manager at Casitas, advised the board to ask federal officials to clarify their positions. And he said the district might want to to take a low-key approach until the water district is sure of its legal position and the nuances of the National Environmental Policy Act, the law that the new plan must follow.
“We may want to do a lot more listening than we do talking at this time,” Wickstrum said.
At the same time, Wickstrum said it is clear that the bureau is already allowing the Forest Service to use the Teague Watershed for training, although management of the area is supposed to be under Casitas’ control.
Debate over the new resource management plan is just the latest dispute between federal officials and Casitas.
Casitas has spent more than $500,000 on a lawsuit that seeks reimbursement of about $9 million the district was required to spend to help restore the Ventura River run of the endangered steelhead trout.
Of the costs to implement the new federal plan, Director Pete Kaiser said: “It seems to be just another federal scheme to have our ratepayers pay for this.”