Draft Plan Sections Released for Final Review.
Two of the three parts of the draft Ventura River Watershed Management Plan are complete and have been posted on the Watershed Council’s website for final review.

Part 1 – Introduction, provides an overview of the Watershed Council, its participants, history, governance structure, mission statement, milestones, and funding.

Part 2 – Watershed Plan, Projects, and Programs, describes the plan’s goals, objectives, and findings; summarizes existing projects and programs and recent accomplishments; outlines six campaigns that frame future projects in the context of existing efforts; and provides the complete list of priority projects and programs.

These two parts (with the exception of the “Executive Summary” and “The Planning Process” which will be written last) are complete and have been through considerable review by the Council.

Part 3 – Watershed Characterization, is still under development.

Final comments on Parts 1 and 2 are due in three weeks, on October 22, 2014. 

An opportunity to ask questions or provide feedback will be available at next week’s October 7 evening Council meeting (see below).

Review suggestions:
1) Those entities who signed up to be a project lead or project supporter should give one final look at the project lists in “2.4 Complete List of Priority Projects and Programs.” I have included the projects that did not make the Tier 1L priority list (Tier 1S and Tier 2) at the end of that section. You may want to also scan those lists and see if there are any projects you’d like to see bumped up to the Tier 1L priority list.
2) The findings in “2.1.2 Goals, Objectives, and Findings” are central to this plan. A few edits did come in since the findings section was last circulated. Please check any sections that are of particular importance to you.

Oct. 7 Evening Watershed Council Meeting 
The next meeting of the Ventura River Watershed Council will be next Tuesday, October 7, 2014, from 6:00 to 8:30 pm, at the Oak View Community Center, 18 Valley Road, Oak View. We hold evening meetings in order to reach more of our stakeholders. Interested community members are encouraged to attend. Please help get the word out to those who may be interested.

We’ve got three items on the agenda. First, an overview will be provided of key sections of the draft watershed management plan: Findings, Campaigns, and the Project & Program List.

Second, we’ll get an overview presentation from Gerhardt Hubner, manager with Ventura County Watershed Protection District, on the historic groundwater bills signed by the Governor on September 16, 2014. These bills include a requirement that groundwater “sustainability plans” be developed for many basins in California (see article below for more info).

Third, representatives from Ventura Water (Karen Waln), Casitas Municipal Water District (Ron Merckling), and Golden State Water ( will discuss current water conservation and water use efficiency programs.

Here is the agenda.