AREA MAY RECEIVE KERN RIVER WATER.

Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- The Castaic Lake Water Agency is poised to sign a deal for Kern River water in a move to supply 11,000 homes.

The agreement would cost the agency at least $5 million a year, and would allow it to serve developing areas in the valley.

``It's a good deal, and it's getting better with time because ... the price of water is going up,'' said Dan Masnada, general manager of the agency.

If approved by the agency's board, the deal with the Buena Vista Water Storage District and the Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District would rely on Kern River to supply some of the Santa Clarita Valley's water needs.

Using Kern River water would be a first for the agency, which until now has relied on a half-and-half split of local well water and California Aqueduct water from Northern California.

Other agencies have also looked to Kern County for water. As water has become more valuable, some farmers in the county are cutting back on their water consumption to sell the resource, Masnada said.

But environmental groups aren't sure it's a good idea. And after hearing objections from those groups about the proposed deal, the water agency board last week postponed a decision until Sept. 25 to give it more study.

Lynne Plambeck, president of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment, compared the deal to what Los Angeles did decades ago in taking water from the Owens Valley, which sparked a long conflict over water rights.

``... We're looking at an issue similar to the Owens Valley where we're taking a bunch of water from a river in another county, and is that something we want to do?'' she said.

Environmental groups also want more details on where the water would come from.

The proposed agreement allows for the two Kern County water storage districts to occasionally substitute State Water Project supplies for the Kern River in supplying the Castaic Lake Water Agency. But agency officials said that won't result in undue strain on the State Water Project and the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, which is part of the project.

The deal to provide 11,000 acre-feet of water would be enough water to supply 11,000 homes, and the related commercial development and parks that come with that many new homes, Masnada said.

The agency needs the water to annex growing areas of the valley into the water district, and maintain supplies to existing users while serving the new residents, Masnada said. The developing areas that would be added to the system include Stevenson Ranch, Paradise Ranch and the Tesoro development.

alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com

[phone]