VALLEY ON PATH FOR KERN RIVER WATER PLAN EXPECTED TO BOLSTER RELIABILITY OF SUPPLIES.Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS 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, -- Seeking enough water to meet the demands of growth in 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. , 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 gave preliminary approval to buying Kern River Kern River A river rising in the Sierra Nevada of eastern California and flowing about 249 km (155 mi) south and southwest to the southern San Joaquin Valley. water. The board voted unanimously Wednesday night to sign off on an environmental impact report for the plan, which would provide enough water for 11,000 homes at a cost of at least $5 million a year. The water from the Kern River would be provided by the Buena Vista Water Storage District and the Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District, both of Kern County. ``It is a new source of supply to this valley, which is a very positive thing,'' board member Ed Colley said. ``It allows us to have a diversified water portfolio and adds to our reliability.'' While the water is technically supposed to come from Kern River, the Kern County entities could also substitute water from the State Water Project aqueduct aqueduct (ăk`wədŭkt) [Lat.,=conveyor of water], channel or trough built to convey water, chiefly for providing a densely populated region with a supply of freshwater. or from ground sources where the two Kern County agencies store water. They will provide a total of 11,000 acre feet of water per year. To approve the environment report for the agreement, the Castaic Lake board had to sign off on the fact that it will have ``significant'' effects on the local environment. Those effects stem from the new housing developments the influx of water will support, and they include increased traffic and demand for solid waste disposal. But agency officials said it's not their job to decide on the merits on the merits adj. referring to a judgment, decision or ruling of a court based upon the facts presented in evidence and the law applied to that evidence. A judge decides a case "on the merits" when he/she bases the decision on the fundamental issues and considers or drawbacks of housing development, so they voted to overlook those drawbacks because of the deal's merits. The agency would use the water to annex growing areas of the Valley into the water district while maintaining supplies to existing users. Stevenson Ranch Stevenson Ranch, California (in the 91381 ZIP Code) is a Los Angeles County, USA, unincorporated community west of Santa Clarita a few miles south of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. The Stevenson Ranch fountain was redone in 2007. , Paradise Ranch and the Tesoro development are among the developing areas that would be added to the system. ``In time of drought, when we face cutbacks in our allocation of state water, we will be able to utilize this water ... to supply those residents,'' board member Tom Campbell said. A final vote on the agreement is expected before the end of the year. alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com (661) 257-5253 |
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