The Newhall County Water District and Castaic Lake Water Agency have launched a new website, OurSCVWater.com, to provide information about the possibility of combining into a single new valley-wide water agency.
The new site was announced last week at a joint community workshop NCWD and CLWA hosted to gather initial community input on the concept of replacing the two agencies by creating a single new agency, with a publicly elected board of directors, that would serve the entire Santa Clarita Valley.
NCWD General Manager Steve Cole said the new site is part of the two agencies’ overall effort to ensure the community has ample opportunity to not only be informed on the process, but also to provide input.
“Both agencies are placing a high priority on transparency as we embark upon this process,” Cole said. “So, we thought it would be appropriate to create a single website, jointly managed by both agencies, where we can post news and information about the discussions, and answer residents’ questions directly.”
CLWA General Manager Matt Stone said the site is designed to offer clear explanations of the progress being made as the two agencies work together to determine whether it would make sense to create a new water agency.
“We’re of course very early in this process, and nothing has been decided yet, but as we move forward we believe it’s very important to maintain open lines of communication with the community,” Stone said. “Last week’s workshop and the creation of OurSCVWater.com are just the beginning of that community engagement.”
The two agencies announced at the end of January that, after nearly a year of settlement talks intended to resolve litigation between them, the two sides had reached a consensus on goals, principles and conditions that, if met, could result in combining the two agencies into a single water agency.
Officials from both agencies have emphasized the fact that the process is in an exploratory stage, and the creation of a new public agency will only be pursued if it’s deemed to be in the best interests of the valley’s water ratepayers.
NCWD is one of four water retailers in the SCV. It provides retail water services to approximately 44,400 people through 10,000 service connections. CLWA serves the valley as a wholesale provider of imported water from the State Water Project and other sources, and it owns the SCV’s two largest water retailers: CLWA’s Santa Clarita Water Division and Valencia Water Company, which serve 28,000 and 31,000 connections, respectively.
OurSCVWater.com includes a summary of the talks that led to consideration of the possibility of creating a new agency, as well as information on the principles of discussion and goals that would need to be met for the two agencies to move forward and create a new entity. Visitors to the site can also submit questions online and sign up to stay engaged by receiving future communications from the two agencies regarding the possible creation of a new water agency.
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