FARMERS SEEKING TRUSTEE TO RUN SANITATION DISTRICTS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Antelope Valley farmers are seeking the appointment of a trustee to run the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts serving Palmdale and Lancaster, stating the districts' actions are interfering with a legal battle to resolve groundwater rights.

In a ``statement of issues'' filed with a Superior Court judge, a group of farmers and other landholders said they anticipate asking for the appointment of a trustee to run the sanitation districts. No decision is eminent, but the judge handling the case might indicate at a conference on Friday whether the matter would be considered.

``We've raised the issue of appointing a trustee to run the districts for the benefit of the community,'' said Gene Nebeker, an alfalfa farmer and member of the group. ``The two governing boards are not doing what they should. None of them are taking leadership.''

Called the Antelope Valley Groundwater Agreement Association, the association includes members of longtime Antelope Valley families, including the Calandris, the Goddes and the Ritters.

Sanitation district officials said such a move is not warranted and dispute the claims of a lack of leadership. Officials said top managers are hired by a consortium of all 25 sanitation districts in Los Angeles County and that any move to replace that leadership affects all districts, not just Palmdale and Lancaster.

``I don't see where the system is broken,'' said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford, who sits on the boards of the sanitation districts serving Palmdale and Lancaster. ``Just because we don't agree doesn't mean we should change the leadership.''

The filing is linked to a controversy over the expansion of the Lancaster and Palmdale sewage treatment plants, an issue that includes the state-ordered cleanup of nitrates in the groundwater by the Palmdale district. The cleanup will require pumping of groundwater to treat it.

Nitrates, which are nutrients for plants, can cause a condition known as ``blue baby'' syndrome among infants who drink the water.

Nitrates have leached into the underground water table from the Palmdale district's decades-old practice of spreading treated sewage effluent on barren land to soak into the ground.

``This raises a legal question as to whether a polluter can establish rights based on its ordered cleanup operation,'' the group said in its court filing.

In Lancaster, the sanitation district is under orders to stop effluent from spilling onto Rosamond Dry Lake on Edwards Air Force Base. Sanitation officials plan to use treated sewage water to irrigate farm crops on thousands of acres the district is buying south of Edwards' border. The city of Lancaster also plans to use treated, disinfected effluent to water parks and landscaping.

In Palmdale, the expansion plan includes acquiring nearly 6,000 acres near Air Force Plant 42 for use in farming crops with treated effluent and for siting reservoirs to store treated water during the winter months.

Critics of the districts, including Nebeker, a former member of a state regional water-quality board, believe the sanitation districts should use treated effluent to recharge groundwater.

The critics state that getting rid of the treated effluent by using it to irrigate crops has hurt groundwater quality in the past and threatens to continue to do so in the future.

District officials have deemed recharge not feasible, at least in the short term, because even if state permission could be acquired, it would require several years to do so.

Nebeker believes sanitation officials are exaggerating the difficulties and time involved in securing state approvals for recharge.

The water-rights litigation stems from lawsuits filed by two Kern County farming companies, Diamond Farming Co. and Wm. Bolthouse Farms Inc., in 1999 and 2001, against Antelope Valley water districts and government agencies. The companies were seeking priority rights to the water beneath their Antelope Valley farmland.

Other parties have been drawn into the litigation, including large landowners, Edwards Air Force Base, the Los Angeles County Waterworks District, the city of Lancaster, Palmdale and Quartz Hill water districts, Antelope Valley Water Co. and the Rosamond Community Services District.

Although not named in the various water rights lawsuits, the sanitation districts are looking at protecting its rights on three issues that could become part of the proceedings - the first is the right under the state water code to have priority on the water it treats.

The second is the right to pump water in order to comply with the state orders to clean up the nitrates.

The third issue is that as the districts acquire land for their expansion, they want to protect the value of that property.

``Part of the value of the land is the water rights that go along with land,'' said Ray Tremblay, the district's section head of monitoring. ``We need to protect our rights as overlaying landowner.''

The case is being presided over by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Jack Komar because Los Angeles County government agencies are involved.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com