11-12-03 Charles Brink This is a position paper on what I believe should be done concerning water in Acton and Agua Dulce.
The only source of replenishable water in Acton and Agua Dulce is the Santa Clara River. It is also the last, along most of its path, of free following rivers in Los Angeles County. Acton is the first community on the river after it leaves the National Forest where it drains hundreds of square miles of virgin areas.
Why do I call it a river in Acton? Because, it is an underground river.
This water now supplies numerous wells in Acton and is the sole source of water for LA County Water District Number 37.
AVEK
A common misconception is that AVEK supplies water to Acton.
Because of misinformation and outright fraud, a number of good intentioned people in Acton and Agua Dulce were coerced into joining AVEK on the false statement that Acton had no water and that only the state could bring water from Northern California to Acton. All this did was add substantially to our property taxes to build the Antelope Valley's water systems. At the same time, the County drilled a single well in Acton (where the County claimed their was no water) to feed our residences for over 30 years from Acton's own water, which had always existed.
At the same time, AVEK has collected millions of dollars from Acton and Agua Dulce for absolutely nothing. In fact, every person who connects to the Acton Water System pays AVEK a fee for nothing.
AVEK is fed by the Central Valley Water System, which has no reserve residential uninterruptible water whatsoever. The available water is routinely misstated by using the amount that could be supplied if the peripheral canal connection to the Sacramento River was actually completed or based on purchase of interruptible agricultural water with a mutli-year storage system. This expansion was turned down by voters about 20 years ago and has no conceivable chance of ever being completed. AVEK exceeds its allocation every year for just the Antelope Valley and still overdrafts all Antelope Valley wells just to keep up with the existing Antelope Valley's use.
In the early '90s L.A. County Water Works, in a conspiracy with AVEK, wasted millions of dollars of standby fees collected from Acton and Agua Dulce property owners to build a water treatment plant in Palmdale and a pipeline that was by bi-directional, connecting the treatment plant in Palmdale to Acton and simultaneously connecting Acton to the Antelope Valley Water supply districts.
This is just another trick to take our money and water to supply growth in the Antelope Valley.
I, along with other people in the community, protested this theft of water and I found a state law prohibiting inter-basin transfers of water without State approval, which stopped the last great Acton “Water Raid”.
Palmdale is still trying to acquire Acton and a number of people, primarily business owners and realtors in Acton, fully support that Acton should be part of Palmdale. This would allow Palmdale to take every bit of Acton's water. It would also end our rural lifestyle by allowing vast expansion in the commercial areas, the immediate loss of our Standards District, and Palmdale would rezone Acton for condos and apartments. There go our property values!!!!!
The same people say they don't want Santa Clarita to control Acton. But recognize Santa Clarita already obtains its water from the Santa Clara River and its goals would be to slow growth in Acton and Agua Dulce to protect its water supply.
1. Existing homes. The first priority goes to existing homes in both of the communities. Water can be delivered by individual well, water line, and State-County approved and permitted water trucks. These water trucks and pipelines must be fed from the Santa Clara River aquifer in Acton in order not to deplete the limited water in other areas, particularly in Agua Dulce which has virtually no recharge.
2. New homes on existing lots. Before any water is used on new homes on existing lots, a public Government run water study needs to be done to determine the capacity of the aquifer to supply water. Only if there is extra capacity above the existing homes can new homes be allowed. If the studies determine there is sufficient water currently to provide water for each and every parcel that is currently in existence, then permits could be issued on any of these parcels. If there is insufficient capacity to provide all parcels, then only a specific number of construction permits, which are covered by the existing water sources, should be issued. There remaining balance of parcels must be on hold until another permanent source of uninterruptible water is available.
3. Subdivisions creating new lots. Assuming there is sufficient water to feed each and every existing home and existing parcel, then each new subdivision would have to determine if the existing aquifer has capacity in reserve above the needs of existing homes and existing parcels. If not, then each new subdivision would have to provide a permanent source of water from outside of the community.
And never to the Antelope Valley.
The current policy of allowing developers first priority to the water above the existing residences and lots is improper and immoral.
If this policy does not change, then the next step is organizing a Public Water Company and placing the water in Acton and Agua Dulce under local control.
It is also important that we leave AVEK even though we have to pay off the few remaining bonds. It will put to an end forever the idea that theft of our water and our payments for improvements in the Antelope Valley will continue.
As to the county's health claim that truck delivery of water is unsanitary, I would argue that trucks which have a appropriate Health Permit for hauling drinking (potable) water and delivering it to individual water tanks is as safe or safer than pumping water from a County water district.
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