Drought Summit 2016: City of Ventura

Shana Epstein

Ventura Water General Manager

September 22, 2016

100 % Local Water Resources

• Casitas Municipal Water District

• Ventura River

• Santa Paula Basin

• Mound Basin

• Oxnard Plain Basin

• Recycled Water

Water Shortage Timeline

• 10 % voluntary reductions (Feb. 2014)

• Water Shortage Task Force (July 2014)

• Declared a Water Shortage Emergency (Sept. 2014)

• Water Shortage Event Contingency Plan (March 2015)

• Four tiered Water Shortage Event Rates approved (June 2015)

Drought Response

• Water Rates – Tiered Rate

Structure – Water Shortage

• Water Wise Incentive Programs

• Water Surveys • Gardening Classes • Communication

– Traditional – Social Media

-4%

-13%

-7%-12%

-24%-26% -25% -23%

-25% -25%

-15% -15%

-40.00%

-30.00%

-20.00%

-10.00%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

0.00

200.00

400.00

600.00

800.00

1,000.00

1,200.00

1,400.00

1,600.00

1,800.00

% c

han

ge

Acr

e-f

ee

t p

er

mo

nth

Ventura Water Production 2015 vs 2013

% Change(15 vs 13)

2013

2015

10%reduction

20%reduction

Outreach Strategy

• Website Information

• Social Media

• Media – Pipeline, News Print, Radio, TV

• Staff presentations at community organizations

• Community Special Events (25-30 annually)

• Summer Campaigns

• Water: Take 1 Short Film contest

Sustainable Water Future

• Demand Side Management – Net Zero

• Water Re-use – Potable – Tertiary

• Desalination

• Water Purchases – State Water – Ag Demand Side Management

VenturaWaterPure Demonstration Facility

• State-of-the-Art Purification Facility

• How Reuse Fits-In to Ventura’s Water portfolio

• Potable Reuse Technologies

• Demonstrate the Water Quality and Public Safety of the Supply

Recycled Water Fill Station • Started Training on June 21, 2016 • 54 individuals have attended

training • 31 entities have paid fee and are

collecting water

Water Wise Incentive Program Launched July 2015

• Reimbursed 330 participants • Water savings of approx. 50

acre ft/year • Approx. 357,000 sq. ft of turf

removed • 1,000 acre ft. of water savings

over a 20 year period

2016 Water Wise 2.0 Program Details

• Over $1.2 Million in grant funds

• Collaboration with City of Santa Paula and Casitas Municipal Water District

• $2 per sq. ft., capped at 1,600 sq.ft. for residential

• $2 per sq. ft., capped at 3,200 sq.ft. for commercial/multi-family

• freesprinklernozzles.com • WBICs

Questions?

Follow Ventura Water on

11

Ventura’s Current Water Resources