City of Thousand Oaks adopts water management plan

The Thousand Oaks City Council recently adopted the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan prepared by the Watersheds Coalition of Ventura County, a cooperative group of more than 60 water agencies and organizations formed in 2005 to pursue water project funding from Proposition 50.

Prop. 50, known as the Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002, was passed by California voters in 2002 to fund a variety of regional water and natural resource-related projects.

The state recently approved a $25 million Prop. 50 grant for Ventura County. Planned water

resource projects in the Calleguas Creek Watershed that benefit the city of Thousand Oaks include treatment and reuse of groundwater and reclaimed surface water to reduce reliance on imported water, as well as habitat and flood protection.

“With limited water supplies and growing population in Southern California, regional water planning and cooperation is essential to our future,” said public works director Mark Watkins. “We are very pleased to have received a $25 million grant as a result of these efforts.”

The Integrated Regional Water Management Plan can be viewed at the city website, www.toaks.org.