Ventura OKs Advisory Vote on Water Issue : City Council: The November ballot measure will include a comparison of operating costs for importing from the state and for building a desalination plant.

The Ventura City Council on Monday finalized a plan to let residents vote in the November election on whether the city should import state water or build a desalination plant.

The council voted 7 to 0 to place an advisory measure on the ballot that would include a comparison of the annual operating costs of the two long-term water systems.

The council agreed to place estimates in the initiative showing that the annual operating costs for producing 7,000 acre-feet of desalinated water would be $30.4 million.

By comparison, the annual cost for bringing in 9,000 acre-feet of state water would be $24.2 million.

In the interest of keeping the measure simple, the council opted not to include the average monthly rate or the estimated cost per acre-foot of either option.

“There should be as few numbers as possible,” said Councilman Todd J. Collart.

However, Collart, who has pushed for placing a mandatory measure on the ballot, continued to voice his objections to making the ballot measure advisory instead of binding.

As it stands, the council will have the final say on Ventura’s long-term water sources.

At one point during the meeting, Collart made a motion to the council to add a third measure to the ballot, allowing residents to vote for neither choice.

But his motion failed by a vote of 6 to 1.

“I like the option, “ said Councilwoman Cathy Bean. “But I wish we would have brought it up three weeks ago.”

City Manager John Baker told the council he will finalize the ballot measure and forward it to the county elections department by Wednesday.

For about a week, council members had been trying to figure which cost estimates would be the best to include in the ballot measure.

In the wake of pressure from supporters of desalinated water, Councilman Tom Buford said last week that he was planning to suggest altering the estimated cost of desalinated water from $1,924 per acre-foot to $1,272 per acre-foot and changing the cost of state water from $823 per acre-foot to $942 per acre-foot.

He said the corrections were needed to give a more accurate price portrayal on converting seawater to drinking water or tapping into the state water system.

But Buford said Monday that the numbers were “probably confusing” and that the annual operating costs would probably be clearer to the voters.

Meanwhile, both state water supporters and advocates of desalinated water praised the council’s action, saying it represented a good compromise.

“At least we have have a jumping-off point,” said Tim Downey, a member of Desal Water. “I’d like to praise the council for finding some common ground.”