WATER PANEL CANCELS PUBLIC MEETING : SOME IRKED AT DECISION TO DRAFT PRELIMINARY PLAN BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

An ambitious water plan that would affect most water users in the Santa Clarita Valley is being planned behind closed doors at the Castaic Lake Water Agency, critics charged Thursday.

The Integrated Water Resources Plan was initially scheduled for public discussion Tuesday, but the meeting was canceled by Castaic board President Bill Cooper. Instead, a private ad hoc committee composed of Cooper and representatives of the valley's four water companies, will be responsible for assembling the plan and recommending a consultant to draft it.

``The public should be able to go to the meetings and find out what's going on,'' said Lynne Plambeck, one of six candidates running for a seat on the Castaic Lake board. ``It's a matter of policy. The public needs to know.''

Some committee members dismissed Plambeck's concerns as political grandstanding and said the committee was formed to gather preliminary information for the plan.

Bill Manetta, president of the Santa Clarita Water Co. and a committee member, said he was unaware the meetings would be closed to the public.

``I haven't been aware of anything secretive,'' Manetta said. ``They set up a committee to study (the plan). It would be important to learn what the issues are in the valley and how they could best be addressed.''

Manetta said the plan eventually will be subject to public review and comment.

Ad hoc committees - those formed to study a single issue - can meet privately and do not have to notify the public of meetings as long as their members don't constitute a quorum. The agency's board of directors has 11 members, four of whom represent the valley's four water retailers.

On Tuesday, the board planned a public workshop to discuss the proposal but canceled it without warning. Manetta said the meeting was canceled because Castaic Lake General Manager Bob Sagehorn was unprepared to discuss the water plan.

The plan seeks to fairly manage all local water supplies, including groundwater, desalinated water and reclaimed water, to meet demand over the next century.

``The intent of the workshop was to have a little bit more of an informal discussion to talk about and identify key water management issues,'' said Castaic Lake director Michael Kotch, a member of the new committee. Those issues, in turn, would have been part of the plan.

Now the committee will be responsible for drafting a plan outline which will be used by a consultant to create the final document.

``We are going to be establishing the boundaries of the plans,'' said Kotch who added that no new workshop has been scheduled to discuss the formation of the document. He asked Cooper to open the meetings to the public but said the first one, scheduled for Monday, will be held behind closed doors.

By removing the plan from the public arena, Kotch said agencies such as the city of Santa Clarita and the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center - Los Angeles County's largest jail - will be robbed of opportunities to comment on the plan.

``If someone calls me I'll bring it to the table,'' he said. ``They won't have an opportunity to bring it up themselves. I think it would have been more effective to have them there.''

Castaic Lake also might miss helpful suggestions, Kotch said.

``The city of Santa Clarita has elements regarding water management in its general plan,'' Kotch said. ``They might want to have some input in regard to that. There could be other major water users like the (detention center) that might want to know what's going on. If it's not in the request for proposals it's not going to get done.''