On Friday, September 17 United Water Conservation District will begin its annual water conservation release from Lake Piru. A total of approximately 33,000 acre-feet is expected to be released from that day through about the middle of November.

The release is being timed to coincide with the highest agricultural water demand period of the year in October. It is during late September and early October when the majority of local strawberries are planted, and during their first four to six weeks in the ground the seedlings require a large amount of water to get established.
On the 17th Santa Felicia Dam will begin releasing water at a rate of 400 cubic feet per second. As the water moves down lower Piru Creek and the Santa Clara River it will recharge groundwater supplies, and it is expected water will begin to arrive at the Freeman Diversion Dam at Saticoy about one week after the release begins. Once water starts to reach the Freeman it can then be provided to local farms for crop irrigation through United's two agriculture irrigation systems.

When the river water is sufficient to meet the demands of the two irrigation systems, the release rate at the dam will begin to be reduced to stretch out the period of the release for as long as possible. The longer that United can provide surface water for irrigation, the less time farms will be compelled to pump groundwater from already overdrafted groundwater basins on the Oxnard Plain.

The release of 33,000 acre-feet from Lake Piru will bring lake storage down to 20,000 acre-feet, which is the point at which further release would cause sediment to be drawn into the dam's intake works. Though 33,000 acre-feet is substantially less than the amount that could be released if the lake were at its 80,000 acre-feet capacity, it is more than the approximately 21,000 acre-feet which was released last year.

The release will also provide a welcome supply of water to the ecology of the Santa Clara River Valley during a time of year when the river would otherwise naturally be dry, and it will provide United staff the opportunity to conduct studies relative to fish passage, percolation rates of groundwater basins and river channel cutting.
In speaking about the release United's General Manager, Mike Solomon, noted, "The annual conservation release from Lake Piru is key in our efforts to recharge groundwater supplies and protect against further seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers.So far we have been able to meet water demands in the District, even during the last four years, through the strategic use of local surface water and groundwater. I urge everyone to do everything they can to use this limited resource wisely"