WATER SEEN AS SUFFICIENT SUPPLIES TO LAST 20 YEARS, CONSULTANTS SAY SOURCE} BY SUSAN ABRAM STAFF WRITER.

NEWHALL - An independent firm hired by the Newhall County Water District has found there is sufficient water supply available to meet projected demands for the next 20 years, according to a preliminary report.

Consultants from Stetson Engineers Inc., were hired by the water district's board for more than $30,000 to complete the report for the agency. The agency earlier this year had passed a resolution stating in summary that the water supply available in the the Newhall district may have been overestimated for years, which could result in future shortages.

While the report appears to contradict that resolution, the water district board president, Lynne Plambeck, cautioned that it is a draft not yet including some key pieces of information, as about water that would be needed in proposed developments yet to be approved. She said supply figures also need to be refined with data on wet years versus drought years.

``The report doesn't negate the resolution,'' Plambeck said. ``The basis of our resolution was how water was reported.''

In addition, the Stetson report also bases its conclusions on water drawn from the the Saugus Formation and alluvial aquifer, but neither of those groundwater sources is completely reliable because of perchlorate contamination far beneath.

``The principal future water supplies for (the district) will continue to be groundwater pumped from the alluvial aquifer and Saugus Formation and imported (State Water Project) water from the Castaic Lake Water Agency,'' the report's author wrote.

``We told him we were concerned about that,'' Plambeck said. ``That's a big difference in our resolution.''

A decision to use highly conservative figures in measuring water supply had split the district board earlier in the year, with three members voting for the resolution and two dissenting. But Plambeck has said the resolution's purpose has been misinterpreted by developers and city officials, who have argued that the board majority wants to deny them water.

Plambeck has said no one has been denied water. She said those who voted for the resolution want guidelines to provide accurate figures for the future of the Santa Clarita Valley. Board member Barbara Dore, who dissented when the resolution was adopted, said she hopes the Stetson report will place the issue of truth in water-supply figures to rest.

She believes a majority of the board will support the final Stetson document, to be reviewed before the end of the month.

``The Stetson report came up with the same conclusions'' as other reports, she said. ``I believe the majority of the board will see this as our water-supply report.''

Susan Abram, [phone]

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com