Drought-busting water plant planned at Naval Base Ventura County - VC Star

Drought-busting water plant planned at Naval Base Ventura County

$300M drought-busting water treatment facility in works at Naval Base Ventura County
Brian J. Varela

A local water district is in the early stages of building a $300 million drought-busting water treatment facility at Naval Base Ventura County that will supply the much-needed resource to the base and surrounding areas.

At a water sustainability summit on Thursday, United Water Conservation District officials said the agency has secured $8.6 million plus $1.3 million in expected state grants that will carry the project through its first phase.

“It will create a new, reliable (water) supply that is not affected by drought,” Maryam Bral, United’s chief engineer, said Wednesday.

By pumping out and filtering brackish groundwater, the facility can hinder seawater intrusion into the Oxnard and Pleasant Valley basins while restoring aquifers, she said. The project would also diversify the local water supply.

Once fully operational, the facility will produce at least 5,000 acre feet of treated water per year, Bral said. That’s about 1.6 billion gallons annually.

About 20% of the water will be set aside for the naval base, Bral said. The remaining 80% will go toward the Oxnard Basin.

Headquartered in Oxnard, the water district encompasses about 214,000 acres that straddle the Santa Clara River from Lake Piru to the coast. United Water doesn’t directly supply residential customers, but its groundwater is used by Fillmore, Santa Paula, Ventura, Oxnard and Port Hueneme.

Groundwater will not be filtered in phase one. Instead the water district will install extraction wells, pipelines and a discharge facility. Staff will also collect data to develop phase two.

Construction on phase one is expected to start in 2025 and be completed by the following February. It’s anticipated to be funded by grants from the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Water Resources.

Phase two will build out the remaining infrastructure and buildings for the facility at Point Mugu. Construction is expected to start in 2027 and wrap up in 2030, Bral said.

The water district has already identified state and federal sources of revenue it will seek to fund the second, more costly phase.

It aims to secure a water infrastructure improvement grant from the United States Bureau of Reclamation and a community infrastructure grant through the the Department of Defense, according to district documents. Funds are also available under Proposition 68, which frees up money for projects that restore the state's natural resources.

Mauricio Guardado, United’s general manager, said in an email Friday the entirety of the project will be paid for by state and federal grants. Once the first phase in completed, United will ramp up its efforts to secure funding for the final phase, he said.

The facility's cost will not be passed down to the ratepayers, he added.

Guardado said Wednesday he was confident the water district would get enough funding thanks to years of planning that have gone into the project. The water district’s partnership with the Navy also opens up new funding options.

United is currently finalizing a 99-year easement agreement with the Navy for the use of between 11 and 14 acres of land.

The naval base is located near the Mugu Trench where the groundwater discharges, said Nathan Jacobson, the naval base’s water program manager, on Thursday.

Brian J. Varela covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo. He can be reached at brian.varela@vcstar.com or 805-477-8014. You can also find him on Twitter @BrianVarela805.