DEBATE COMING TO HEAD NEWHALL BOARD TO HASH OUT DETAILS.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The Newhall County Water District board of directors has stirred up a froth of controversy with a resolution that seeks to restate the valley's water supply, and Thursday members will meet to hash out the details with the public.

Lynne Plambeck, the president of the board, and Maria Gutzeit, a freshman board member, both recently won election on campaign platforms revolving around water-reporting reform. Both women and the majority of the board contend that the Castaic Lake Water Agency's Urban Management Report of 2000 neglected information about limited water supply in order to encourage development.

The Castaic Lake agency is the region's water wholesaler, while Newhall Water and three others serve as retailers.

The Newhall majority's critics contend the resolution is rushed and designed to control growth.

The lake agency's ``standard line is that we have plenty of water and we can build as much as we want. But the water just isn't there,'' Plambeck said Monday. ``They don't care. They're elected into office by the development community. ... The Valencia Water Company is writing the water-supply report, and they are owned by a major developer. This is a huge conflict of interest.'' Valencia Water is owned by The Newhall Land and Farming Company, the area's biggest developer.

Plambeck's stance has polarized the community and drawn protests from people with development interests in the valley, including the city of Santa Clarita, the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce and some local school districts.

On Monday, the Castaic Union School District board decided to write a position paper summarizing its concerns, but stopped short of passing a counter-resolution. The board fears that the revised report could jeopardize development that would help fund the construction of new schools.

Also in attendance at Monday's school board meeting, Larry Mankin, president of the Chamber of Commerce, derided Newhall's proposal as anti-development.

``There's a tendency by this water board to establish policy that is slow-growth at best - or even no-growth,'' Mankin said.

Dan Masnada, general manager of the lake agency, issued a written response to Plambeck's proposed resolution, saying it fell short on several grounds.

``The proposed resolution goes beyond simply a modification. ... If adopted, the plan will serve as a commitment ... to a definite course of action that will likely have significant effect upon the environment,'' Masnada wrote in his Jan. 8 letter.

The lake agency board will meet Wednesday to consider a resolution reaffirming its water supply figures.

``Our board just wanted to reiterate the numbers that we have worked on for decades,'' said Mary Lou Cotton, spokeswoman for the ``We're right.''

But Gutzeit sees the lake agency's continued attempts to hold to its water estimates as posing a potential health risk to the community.

``The main issue that summarizes everything is that we do not currently have firm sources of water,'' Gutzeit said. ``We could really be in trouble, and the existing businesses and residents are being put at too great a risk.''

The Newhall County board will hold a public meeting Thursday to field questions about the proposed resolution and potentially vote on it, Gutzeit said.

Nicholas Grudin, [phone]

nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com