MWD Votes to Supply Water to Communities

The Metropolitan Water District voted to annex several Port Hueneme-area communities Tuesday, a milestone agreement in an effort to provide residents with high-quality tap water.

In a move that will not be finalized until spring, the Los Angeles water giant agreed to annex the city of Port Hueneme, the Channel Islands Beach Community Services District, and the Navy bases in Point Mugu and Port Hueneme.

The agreement affects about 54,300 residents and will provide them with an annual supply of about 19.6-million gallons of water imported from Northern California and the Colorado River.

“It will improve water quality,” said Bob Gomperz, a MWD spokesman. “It will deliver water that is much softer and less salty than the ground water that is currently available from the Port Hueneme area.”

The annexation, requested by the communities, is one component of a massive effort by area officials to improve water quality and guarantee a future water supply when the county imposes stricter limits on ground-water pumping.

Water officials from the affected areas will combine the MWD water with ground water treated at a proposed regional high-tech plant. The plan calls for buying MWD water from the Calleguas Municipal Water District, a MWD member agency.