VALLEY CENTER: Growers search for ways to get more water

Water officials say new meters won't up supply

By DARRYN BENNETT - Staff Writer | Thursday, April 10, 2008 9:10 PM PDT ∞

VALLEY CENTER ---- Growers on a discounted water program who have been subject to mandated supply cuts for more than three months said this week that they shouldn't have to split the limited resource, which is essential to their business, between their homes and groves.

They said they should be allowed to buy domestic meters that would deliver full-priced, unrestricted water to their homes, leaving 100 percent of their discounted water for agricultural use.

But domestic-meter purchases could be viewed by the state water agency as a way for growers to circumvent the 30 percent mandatory reductions that began Jan. 1, Valley Center Municipal Water District General Manager Gary Arant said.

More importantly, any policy that allows growers to pay full price to increase water deliveries to their property could bolster the argument to end the agriculture program completely, water officials said.

Some officials at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which administers the program, have said there's no rationale for selling water to growers at a discount when no surplus exists.

"I'm working to preserve the (agricultural program) to the benefit of our growers, " Arant said. "Its existence is what keeps agriculture possible in this district."

Under the Interim Agricultural Water Program, growers pay $250 less than residential or commercial ratepayers per acre-foot of water. In exchange, they agree to mandatory reductions in emergency situations. An acre-foot is 326,000 gallons, enough to sustain two households for a year.

Water agencies statewide, including Metropolitan and the San Diego County Water Authority, have said that the region faces serious water shortages because of drought and an August court ruling to protect an endangered fish, which limits water deliveries from Northern California that supplied almost two-thirds of imported water last year.

Ben Holtz, whose family has grown avocados on Circle R Drive in Valley Center for nearly 40 years, is one of the growers who said he wants a residential meter that is separate from the water allocation he's locked into under program rules.

"As agriculture customers, we're just as qualified to buy (domestic) water as some guy who's going to put in 10 houses," he said.

Under Metropolitan's guidelines, any water delivered to a property participating in the agricultural program is subject to the supply cut, even if some of the allocation is used for domestic purposes.

Based on that, the Valley Center board is set to adopt a policy next month that lets agricultural ratepayers buy additional meters, but doesn't allocate more water for the property.

"What good would that do me?" Holtz said. "I'd like some water so I can continue my business."

Arant said if residential water deliveries increase to properties where agricultural supplies have been capped, Metropolitan officials would "catch on" and penalize the rural district.

"We are the single largest participant in the (agricultural) program," he said. "We are being watched, and we are being audited."

Holtz and others said they'd be willing to forgo the discount if they could get out of the program and buy more water.

But Arant warned that leaving the program and paying full price for water wouldn't necessarily shield growers from supply cuts, because Metropolitan was created to supply water for municipal and industrial customers, not for agriculture.

"Growers could lose their discount and still be subject to mandated cuts," he said. "We have to fight to maintain the (agricultural) program as long as possible."

Robert Polito, a Valley Center water district board member and 28-year citrus grower, removed more than 30 percent of his trees last month. He said he's among area farmers fighting to survive.

"I like that (agricultural) discount," he said. "Without it, I don't see a future for my business."

Growers who signed up for the program before Dec. 31, 2006, are locked into it until Metropolitan ends the discount or the water shortage is corrected, agency officials said.

Contact staff writer Darryn Bennett at (760) 740-5420 or dmbennett@nctimes.com.

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