Apr. 23 Public Outreach Meeting on the Formation of a Groundwater Sustainability Agency for the Upper Ventura River Groundwater Basin.
A public outreach meeting will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at the Oak View Community Center, 18 Valley Road in Oak View, to discuss the formation of a Groundwater Sustainability Agency for the Upper Ventura River Groundwater Basin.
The agency is being created in order to comply with sustainable groundwater management legislation passed by the state last year. The meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to discuss ideas and voice comments or concerns about the formation of the agency.
The Upper Ventura River Groundwater Basin underlies the Ventura River between Casitas Springs and Matilija Canyon. It is a crucial water source for 30,000 residents in the communities of Oak View, Mira Monte, Meiners Oaks, Casitas Springs, and a portion of the City of Ventura. It also provides water for native plants and animals.
The local agencies currently working together to form the Groundwater Sustainability Agency include the Meiners Oaks Water District, Ventura River Water District, Casitas Municipal Water District, City of Ventura, and the Ventura County Watershed Protection District.
The meeting will include a brief presentation on the new legislation and background on the groundwater basin. There will be ample time for public comments, questions, and to develop a list of people and organizations that would like to be involved in the process moving forward.
If you have questions regarding the new agency, or would like to be on an e-mail distribution list for future updates, call or e-mail Bert Rapp, general manager, Ventura River Water District at (805) 646-3403, Bert@VenturaRiverWD.com.
Apr 18 Native Plant Sale
The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy will hold a native plant on Saturday, April 18, from 9 am to 12 pm at their Ojai Meadow Preserve plant nursery on Besant Road in Ojai. Use the preserve entrance on S. Lomita Ave., located to the right of Meiners Oaks Elementary School. The native plants are grown from locally collected seed.
Apr 18 Free Workshop – Native Gardens and their Pollinators
The Casitas Municipal Water District will host a free workshop on Saturday, April 18, from 9 am to 12 pm at the Oak View Park and Resource Center, 555 Mahoney Ave., Oak View. RSVP to Ron Merckling at 805/649-2251 x 118 or rmerckling@casitaswater.com. Flier.
Steelhead Meeting Presentations
The presentations from this week’s (4/14/15) Council meeting, which focused on steelhead, are now posted on the Council’s website (excluding the presentation by the Calif. Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, per their request).
The steelhead monitoring and research that is being done in the watershed is quite comprehensive, and is producing information that may also be of use for other analyses. For example, as indicated by the chart below, Casitas Municipal Water District now has detailed historical information on when the Ventura River estuary sandbar has been open or closed.
