Casitas water issue heats up
By Jesse Phelps

When the National Marine Fisheries Service issued its biological opinion on the Robles Diversion fish passage on March 31, Casitas Municipal Water District was left with two options: prepare to start construction or look at legal action.

While Monday's special meeting of the board of directors provided no definitive answer to the course they would take, hints abounded.

Board member Bill Hicks asked general manager John Johnson whether a delay in deciding would have an impact on potential legal action by Casitas and Johnson assured him it would not, leading many in the audience to assume Casitas is seriously considering fighting the mandate to build the passage. At meeting's end, the only formal decision was to table the issue until the board's regular meeting today.

The decision not to make a decision is seen by local environmental advocates as as an indicator that Casitas will continue to employ whatever tactics it can to delay the inevitable.

Casitas is still standing by figures that indicate water release requirements set down by the National Marine Fisheries Service will exceed its safe yield. The primary number of concern is the 2,000 to 3,200 acre-feet Casitas says the passage will require on an annual basis.

California Trout representative Jim Edmondson, in a prepared statement to the board, pointed out that nowhere in any scientific documentation does the water release requirement approach those figures. "I'd like to bring to your attention to the fact that the consultant, Entrix, in their reports, indicated that that would not be greater than 1,731 acre-feet," he said.

Casitas general manager John Johnson didn't seem convinced by those figures and expressed doubt about the National Marine Fisheries Service's promises to allow for mitigating factors such as droughts. "The drought protection is written," he said, "But frankly, it's very unclear and likely that there's no protection at all."

In a resolution presented to the board by Johnson, he requested that they authorize him to call a hearing for the purpose of declaring a water shortage emergency on April 23, another sign Casitas intends to put up a fight. But the board, wanting time to look more at the evidence and documentation, elected to table the issue.

Board member Jim Coultas took a more proactive stance. He asked his fellow board members to consider the possibility of additional grant funding through Proposition 50. "I think we should look into whether we can qualify for that grant money," he said.
"We need to move ahead," agreed Johnson, "so we can capture as much grant funding as we can." Johnson expressed concerns about the timetable to build, saying it would take more time than originally hoped, and the possibility of acquiring permits.

"One of the suggestions we're making, if we do decide to go ahead, is that we get going on the revised plan that's based upon the biological opinion and that we shoot for trying to have the bids come in (for construction) in about 75 days."

Several speakers were on hand to offer their viewpoints. Russ Baggerly of the Environmental Coalition of Ventura County took exception with Johnson's characterization in his resolution that Casitas had been "coerced" into agreeing to the fish passage. He pointed out that representatives of Casitas had been involved in the process and present at all meetings since step one without previously mentioning having been coerced.

"I find that language a bit offensive," he said. He also took issue with Johnson's use of the word "property" in connection with the water in the channel.

"It is incredibly presumptuous that this board and its general manager would consider the water that you have license to regulate as property," Baggerly said.
Local fly fisherman and activist Larry Yuva talked about conservation as an alternative for Casitas if it thinks it's on the verge of a water shortage emergency.

After listening to public comments and discussing the issue, the board adjourned to closed session under the fear of litigation. The public discussion will continue today at the regular meeting at the Casitas offices in Oak View.

Meanwhile, Edmondson has had enough of the delays.
"Intent is at the center of the framework of our laws," he said. "It's how society differentiates between a minor offense and major offense. First, second- and third-degree murder, both in the charge and, if convicted, the penalty, are associated with intent. First-degree murder is differentiated from second because it's consciously and deliberately carried out. It's premeditated.

"Mr. Johnson wrote and circulated a proposal with an intent statement to try to whip up the public, as was done in the Klamath Basin, in order to cause controversy and discredit the agencies and the pending biological opinion. You can fool me once; maybe it was an inadvertent error to hire a public relations firm for the purposes of misleading the public and disparaging the agencies.

"Then Mr. Johnson goes and meets with all of the agencies which his RFP says he's going to discredit in a negotiation session in October and knowingly, consciously and deliberately does not inform all of his negotiating partners of what he's done," Edmondson said. "Premeditation three: Mr. Johnson produces hydrologic models, both for the board and for a public meeting in early December, which show an extremely low lake level without the fish ladder.

Yet Mr. Johnson knowingly, consciously and deliberately produced that hydrologic depiction without incorporating specific board direction through an ordinance in 1992 about water conservation. Had he done that, it would have been entirely different. How many turn-my-cheeks do we give here? Maybe it's time for a regime change."

David Pritchett of Southern California Steelhead Organization says the bigger issues are Casitas violating the terms of a settlement agreement reached with the Environmental Defense Center and California Trout and it's passing of the literal buck to its water customers. "Over the last few years everybody was living up those settlements," Pritchett said, referring to Casitas' pledge to build the ladder in exchange for not being sued over blocking fish passage.

"But during the whole course of this, it's become clear that Casitas didn't care and it's losing its grants from California Fish and Game and the State Coastal Conservancy. Johnson never wanted to commit the water.

The state agencies finally got wise, saying you can't have a ladder without enough water to see that it works. Now Casitas is upset and they're setting up grounds for a lawsuit. All that does is violate this settlement agreement."

"Because they're taking this confrontational approach, the grants are expiring," Pritchett continued. "There's no way can they build the whole fish ladder to take advantage of the second grant of one-and-a-quarter million dollars, which expires in 11 months. How are they going to build the ladder now that they've got everyone mad at them and their ability to receive further grants will be compromised? They're setting up the rate payers to pay the entire bill."

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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