The consultant hired to map out the sphere of influence of the SCV Water Agency has scheduled a community meeting two weeks from now, hoping to hear from the public about water distribution in the SCV.

The public meeting is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. in the Century Room at Santa Clarita City Hall, on Valencia Boulevard at Citrus Street.

The consultant wants to review the municipal services the agency provides to the SCV — in a word, water.

That consultant is Elliot Mulberg, of E Mulberg and Associates based in Elk Grove, who was hired to put together a draft review of the agency’s municipal services and its sphere of influence.

A municipal service review is a comprehensive analysis of services provided, which, in this case, is about how SCV Water goes about distributing water throughout its territory. It takes account of a number of services provided in a newly annexed area such as population growth and existing facilities, all of which could affect service delivery.

LAFCO hopes the review will provide information and analysis to support any updates made to the agency’s “sphere of influence.”

In March 2018, shortly after the agency officially got underway, the Local Agency Formation Commission for Los Angeles County – or LAFCO, the group mandated to review proposed annexations such as the recent water board’s – held a public hearing to review the plan drawn up by the agency to deliver water throughout the SCV in three defined areas, called divisions.

The review is being done because it was one of the conditions laid down when the SCV Water agency was created in January 2018.

It’s also been an issue of concern for some particular communities inside the agency’s sphere of influence, said LAFCO President Paul Novack.

Novack noted that the community meeting in two weeks is not a requirement of SB 634, which created the SCV Water agency, but something he felt was needed based on discussions with stakeholders.

“We sent out notifications of the meeting to Agua Dulce Town Council, West Ranch Town Council and the Castaic Area Town Council,” Novack said Tuesday.

One particular stakeholder group, the members of which have expressed interest in learning more about SCV Water’s sphere of influence, are the residents of Val Verde, who receive their water from the county through Waterworks District No. 36.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger appointed former Castaic Lake Water Agency staffer Jeff Ford to be the county’s representative on the SCV Water board, opting against the board’s suggestion to simply retire the seat when it was vacated by outgoing director Dante Acosta.

On April 11, 2018, the commission approved written conditions relating to the agency’s application for conditions that define its sphere of influence.

It is hoped the review will provide information and analysis to support any updates made to its sphere of influence.