SUIT DISPUTES WATER SUPPLY ESTIMATES TOO HIGH, GROUP SAYS.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Two environmental groups are suing the Castaic Lake Water Agency over its regional water management plan, alleging the document encourages rampant development and betrayed the public trust.

The lawsuit filed Monday in Ventura Superior Court by the California Water Impact Network and Friends of the Santa Clarita River seeks an injunction against the 2005 Urban Water Management Plan the agency adopted in November.

State law require water agencies every five years to update the document, which anticipates local water supply for the next 20 years and discusses how to meet projected demand and development. Environmental groups have regularly challenged CLWA's report, because an invalidated report or supply reduction could stymie future development.

The suit alleges the plan relies on excessive ground water pumping and uncertain water deliveries from the State Water Project to supply what plaintiffs believe is ``unsustainable urban growth within the Santa Clara River Valley.''

``We want the water agency to set aside the defective plan and set up an adequate one, and for local land use agencies to hold off approving new developments until the water agencies know just how much water they will have,'' plaintiff's attorney Stephen C. Volker said Tuesday.

The suit also names water retailers Newhall County Water District and Valencia Water Company as defendants.

CLWA General Manager Dan Masnada declined to comment on the suit, which is under review by attorneys. But he said he believes the agency's water plan will stand up in court.

``We've not only complied with the letter of the law, but we've gone beyond what's required in the Urban Water Management Planning Act in a number of respects,'' he said. ``We've complied with both the letter and the spirit of the law.

The agency oversees Santa Clarita Valley's state water allocations - roughly half the annual supply. It has faced environmental groups, including both plaintiffs, in courts off-and- on since at least 1999, spending close to $1 million a year on legal fees, Masnada said.

``It did not come as a surprise,'' he said. ``If you look at who's suing us, they've been involved in numerous lawsuits against us.

``I truly expect us to prevail, for the benefit of the public and the environment. We have folks that are telling us we're not doing our jobs, and they're doing the darndest to make sure that we don't do our jobs.''

The 2005 plan predicts that regional water demand could spike by 2030 to 138,300 acre-feet per year as the Santa Clarita Valley's population jumps from 250,000 currently to more than 428,000.

Local water supply from all sources - including allocations from the State Water Project, groundwater and recycled sources - is projected at 125,680 acre-feet for 2030.

Proposed transfer deals, water-banking programs and decontamination of polluted wells could add about 86,700 acre-feet. An acre-foot is the amount of water required to cover one acre one foot deep, or 325,851 gallons.

But the plaintiffs contend the numbers remain grossly misstated, in particular with state water allocations.

``A lot of things are based on hope - 'We hope things will turn out fine,''' said Ron Bottroff, chairman of the Newbury Park-based Friends of the Santa Clara River. ``That's not a good way to increase the population to 400,000. ... They don't look at the real world. We want them to look at the real world.''

The suit alleges the water plan ignores potential reduction of water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which feeds the California Aqueduct, because of global warming and court challenges.

Among them is a 3rd District Court of Appeal ruling in February that water exports may be limited to preserve water standards for the San Francisco Bay and the rivers, Volker said.

``If the total quantity of water is reduced, each contractor's share of the total quantity of water is reduced as well,'' he said. ``We believe Castaic's share of water will be reduced substantially.''

``Water agencies are attempting to make it appear that they have plenty of water for development,'' Bottroff said. ``We don't think it's there. We think these plans ought to be more realistic in the way they predict water availability.''

The river group along with the Sierra Club had sued CLWA over the 2000 Urban Water Management Plan, alleging similar concerns. The 5th District Court of Appeal in 2004 invalidated the plan on grounds it did not adequately address contamination of local groundwater by perchlorate, a rocket fuel ingredient that has been linked to thyroid problems.

``We got them to change their old plan,'' Bottroff said. ``But this is the 2005 plan, and it's still flawed.

``The only way you can get them to change anything is to go to court.''

The lawsuit also disputes whether 41,000 acre-feet of state water the CLWA acquired for $46 million from the Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District in Kern County - a transaction that's still disputed in court by the Planning and Conservation League - should be included in the 2005 plan.

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Santa Clara River flows past a Lowe's home improvement center along Bouquet Canyon Road.

(2) Two ducks swim in the Santa Clara River near the Bridgeport development. Environmentalists contend the Castaic Lake Water Agency's regional water management plan encourages rampant development. They want the plan set aside.

David Crane/Staff Photographer