CASTAIC AGENCY RATIFIES 'GOOD NEWS' WATER SETTLEMENT.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - The Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² Water Agency board has ratified a settlement that requires state water officials to conduct a new environmental assessment of a plan that would bring additional water to Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . ``This is good news for the water agency,'' General Manager Dan Masnada said. The state Department of Water Resources agreed earlier this year to conduct the new study and pay $13.9 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a group that said the environmental impact report prepared for the 1995 Monterey Agreement was inadequate and improperly conducted. The Castaic agency, a State Water Project contractor, will pay the Planning and Conservation League $317,000 over eight years to resolve the litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. over the Monterey Agreement, aimed at bringing 130,000 acre-feet of water to Southern California from farms in Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern and the Central Valley, Masnada said. The Castaic agency is the largest single beneficiary of the Monterey Agreement, which will bring 41,000 acre-feet of water to the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. for a variety of housing developments. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Superior Court Judge David Yaffe tossed out the environmental assessment of the transfer to Castaic last year because it relied on the inadequate study of the Monterey Agreement. The Castaic agency is in the process of redoing that report, and the new one is expected later this year, Masnada said. ``This preserves our ability to consummate that deal, which is crucial for our agency,'' Masnada said. The Monterey Agreement was intended to allow more flexible operation of the State Water Project, permanent transfers of entitlements between contractors and the transfer of land to certain contractors, in exchange for the permanent retirement of a debt of 45,000 acre-feet of state water to California farmers. The Planning and Conservation League asserted that the environmental study for the Monterey Agreement was inadequate because it did not reflect the inability of the State Water Project to deliver 4.2 million acre-feet of water to contractors, even though there are entitlements to the supply. |
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