Ojai Chautauqua Interview with Richard Hajas on the
State of Water in the Ojai Valley - January 31, 2023

 

The purpose of The Agora Foundation's Ojai Chautauqua panels is to engage Ventura County in civil discourse about controversial and highly passionate subjects. In 2023, The Ojai Chautauqua will produce a series on panels addressing the issues Ojai is facing, including water, tourism, housing, education, agriculture, environmentalism, and more. To this end, the linked video interview with Richard Hajas provides a starting place for our water conversation… what is our current state, what are our projected resources, and what should be done going forward?

 

Society is changing. Sustaining a civil conversation, a deep inquiry, and a train of thought are becoming rare talents. To meet this challenge, the Agora Foundation creates and fosters dynamic learning communities, centered on exploring the great texts and ideas that civilization has produced. Through rigor, inquiry, goodwill, and open dialogue, participants grow to become informed, inspired, and influential contributors within their communities. Understanding the foundations and developments of human society offers an insight into current events that is beyond reactive or reductive... it’s reasoned.

 

Interview Participants:

 

Richard Hajas - Board Chair of Casitas Municipal Water District and Board President of the Ojai Basin Ground Water Management Agency

 

Tom Krause - Board President of the Agora Foundation

 

Andy Gilman - Executive Director of the Agora Foundation

 

Key Points from the video:

 

• We have received two years of additional supply in Lake Casitas from the recent rain, with water still flowing into the lake, now giving the lake five years of storage at current use, if there is no rain during that five-year period.

 

• The lake at full storage provides ten years of storage, if there is no rain.

 

• Safe yield from the lake has become more prudent and manageable since the recent droughts.

 

• To whom is Lake Casitas responsible to?

 

• What factors are considered to determine safe yield and sustainable projection?

 

• How should we think about new development and agriculture in Ojai, as it pertains to water use?

 

• What are the best ways to reasonably manage our water supply?

 

• What is the current state of the Valley’s ground water basin?

 

• What are the main sources that contribute to Lake Casitas, and how has the Robles Diversion Canal performed in getting water into the lake?

 

• The balance between environmentalism and human water use.

 

• Using engineers versus lawyers to fix these water problems.

 

• The progress of the state water connections, as a back up for our supply.

 

• We’re in pretty good shape… for now. And our situation can be managed.

 

• The current status of the Endangered Species Act lawsuit along the Ventura River, initiated by the ChannelKeepers, and then by the city of Ventura.

 

• The impacts of removing the Matilija Dam.

 

• What can Ojai Valley residents and organizations do to help the situation?