The Castaic Lake Water Agency might jump on the growing “Just Say No” bandwagon next week when its Water Resources Committee debates the county’s planned storm water cleanup fee.

If the committee votes to oppose it – as the CLWA staff is recommending – then the decision would go to the full CLWA board for a vote.

The Los Angeles County Flood Control District is proposing to levy the so-called “Clean Water, Clean Beaches” fee on homeowners and businesses throughout the county to keep pollution out of storm drains.

But the city of Santa Clarita already levies a similar fee for the same purpose, so for residents, businesses and agencies within the city – including CLWA and its Santa Clarita Water Division – it would mean the “would be essentially double taxed,” according to a CLWA report.

The Santa Clarita City Council is already on record as opposing the new fee, and while CLWA didn’t make the same move in time for the county’s initial Jan. 15 hearing, it’s on track to make it for the next and probably final hearing March 12.

The new fees would cost CLWA $80,918 and SCWD $23,093 per year, according to a board report.

As of Jan. 11, according to the report, the county supervisors had received protests from just 4.3 percent of property owners. It would take 50 percent to stop it.

Weather-Based Irrigation Controllers

In other action, the CLWA subcommittee will consider renewing a company’s contract to roll out more weather-based irrigation controllers as a water conservation measure.

The controllers automatically stop sprinklers from running when it’s raining.

Since 2009 the contractor, SLM, has led the distribution of 1,467 of the devices at an average cost of $464 each (including $150 in instruction and follow-up inspection). They’ve saved roughly 10 percent of total water consumption in the households that have implemented them.

If approved by the Water Resources Committee on Monday and then by the full CLWA board, another 1,200 controllers would be distributed this year.

Integrated Regional Water Management

CLWA’s Water Resources Committee will consider recommending that the full board ask the state for $6.3 million to implement certain projects in the valley’s Integrated Regional Water Management Plan.

CLWA received a planning grant under Proposition 84 in 2011, and now it plans to go for the implementation grant on its own behalf and on behalf of the city of Santa Clarita, SCV Sanitation District, Newhall County Water District and SCWD.

The specific projects the agencies are looking to implement with the money are the removal of invasive plants from the Santa Clara River (city); rebates and outreach to remove the last of the valley’s self-regenerating water softeners, which emit chloride into the watershed (sanitation district); the first phase of a pellet water softening treatment plant (NCWD); various water efficiency programs (SCWD and CLWA); and a new feeder connection (CLWA).