Kevin Walsh Wraps Up Goleta Water District Tenure

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By Sonia Fernandez, Noozhawk Staff Writer

The longtime general manager briefs business leaders on the state of the agency's water before stepping down next week.

Outgoing Goleta Water District general manager Kevin Walsh on Thursday gave one of his last presentations on the district to the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce. The presentation was part of the chamber’s ongoing lunchtime Issues and Policy Roundtable series.

“I would say we’ve accomplished more in these (last) 11 years than we probably did in the prior 30 or 40 years of the district’s history,” Walsh told the audience. The major accomplishments include a water conservation plan, water management plans, upgrades and repairs to facilities, and reduction of debt by $1 million while increasing reserves to $6.5 million out of a $26 million budget.

A special district formed by local vote in 1944, the Goleta Water District once encompassed a service area that went as far east as Ontare Road in Santa Barbara’s San Roque neighborhood. The boundaries have receded since, but the district still covers the entire Goleta Valley, city and unincorporated area. While technically it does not provide services to Hope Ranch, nor do any of its residents pay GWD fees, residents of that enclave are able to vote in elections for the GWD board of directors.

“I don’t know why it’s that way except for maybe in 1944 there was an intent to supply them more fully,” said Walsh. Hope Ranch is served by the La Cumbre Mutual Water Co.

In a nutshell, the district’s history is comprised of efforts to retain and acquire enough water to support a growing population whose demand regularly exceeded the supply. When the ground water supply was   too heavily tapped in the 1940s the district was formed. In the 1950s Lake Cachuma and the Tecolote Tunnel were built. But by the 1960s, the district found itself with not enough water again. Groundwater wells were developed in the 1970s but not enough water was found to lift the water moratorium in the Goleta Valley that lasted into the 1980s. A decade later the district had bought into the State Water Project, began a joint effort with the Goleta Sanitary District to recycle water, and was regulated by a new policy, called the SAFE Ordinance, which dictates when new allotments can be made.

These days the district maintains several facilities, including the Corona Del Mar Treatment plant in the foothills north of the Goleta Valley, which recently survived the Gap Fire. The plant, said Walsh, was “burned around,” due to a defensible space around the facilities. In addition to eight reservoirs, the district also operates nine water production and injection wells and 250 miles of pipeline.

According to Walsh, recent projections estimate that despite the state of drought in California, the GWD will be able to supply its customers with adequate water for 2009, without tapping the ground water too deeply, thanks to conservation, recycling and State Water, even if this year’s allocation has been cut due to the drought. The 2009 estimate of demand is about 13,500 acre feet. An acre foot supplies about four typical Goleta tract homes for a year, he said.

“Overall, on average, we’re doing pretty well on our water supply basis,” he said.

In fact, assuming the municipalities within the district don’t authorize any rezoning, Walsh said, the district could supply a build-out demand of 16,243 acre-feet.

“Change the zoning, you better be sure to come talk to the water district way early in the process,” he said.

As for the ongoing state drought, Walsh said that while district customers didn’t have much to worry about locally, the larger effects are something to think about.

“As a citizen of the state of California, I would be concerned about drought,” he said, pointing out its effects on the overall economy.

Much of the water from the State Water Project goes to Southern California, the economic engine of the state, he said. As the seventh largest economy in the world, an impact to California’s economy would resonate globally.

Walsh, who will be stepping down from his position Wednesday, will be giving his final talk on the state of the Goleta Water District on Monday at the district headquarters, 4699 Hollister Ave.

Noozhawk staff writer Sonia Fernandez can be reached at sfernandez@noozhawk.com.

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