And then there are those who UPSTAND. Gwyn Lurie looks at why

Nicholas Schou is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of several books, including Orange Sunshine and Kill the

Messenger. If you have tips or stories about Montecito, please email him at newseditor@montecitojournal.net A Modest Proposal

From 1 to 3 pm on the afternoon of June 15, the Montecito Water District (MWD) will hold an online hearing in which Nick Turner, the agency’s executive director, will explain several proposed water rate changes that will affect roughly 4,000 households in Montecito and ecivreS noinipO dnoceS Summerland, not to mention several major luxury hotels and private country clubs with world class-rated ?slaog ruoy dnatsrednu rosivda uoy seoD golf courses, and therefore significant water needs. htiw sngila oiloftrop ruoy taht erus ekam ot emit tcefrep eht si woN Several important topics will be on the meeting’s agenda, including erus ekam dna kcehc ,doirep elitalov siht retfA .slaog smret gnol ruoy the district’s recently-adopted urban .erutuf eht rof detsevni dna gninnalp era uoy water management plan, groundwater banking, demand management, :noitatlusnoc eerf eht ni dedulcnI and initial actions that the district has nalP laicnaniF weN * already taken to enhance the water noitacolla tnerruc fo weiveR * supply. According to MWD’s pre stnemtsevni cfiiceps fo weiveR * sentation summary, titled “Securing gniworrob fo weiveR * Water Supply Reliability,” the dis snoitadnemmoceR desoporP * trict’s overall costs are estimated to increase by just 2.8 percent per year. .detrats teg ot yadot em llaC Despite this, 56 percent of MWD’s customers will actually see a decrease in their monthly water bill, while heavier water users, whether golf clubs, hotels, or large estates, will pay more.

PFC ,ollaG .T rehpotsirhC ® AMIC , ®

tnemeganaM htlaeW-tnediserP eciV ®AWPC reganaM oiloftroP 5243-037-508 moc.sbu@ollag.t.rehpotsirhc

In past issues of this newspaper, the Montecito Journal has explored different aspects of our complex relationship with local municipal water. These stories have included a discussion of controversial conservation measures enacted by the MWD’s previous board and how that led to heated elections that brought new leadership to the ollaG rehpotsirhC district, as well as an historical over .cnI secivreS laicnaniF SBU view of the agency’s once-per-gener teertS ollirraC tsaE 222 ation battle to secure newer and more 601 etiuS reliable water sources. arabraB atnaS , AC 6417-10139 This epic, century-long water pro 5243-037-508 4774-262-008 curement undertaking has resulted in not only one of California’s if not the world’s most lush, beautiful landscapes, but also created one of the state’s heaviest users of water per capita, where our landscaping draw can be more than five times as much as parts of Los Angeles, and amounts /moc.sbu ollagtrehpotsirhc/af to 85 percent of the district’s annual deliveries. For perspective, much of the U.S. uses only about a third of their htob sreffo .cnI secivreS laicnaniF SBU ,stneilc ot secivres tnemeganam htlaew gnidivorp mrfi a sA water for landscape. Though, admitegarekorb dna secivres yrosivda tnemtsevnI .secivres egarekorb dna secivres yrosivda tnemtsevni tedly, the rest of the U.S. also doesn’t dna swal tnereffid yb denrevog era dna syaw lairetam ni reffid ,tcnitsid dna etarapes era secivres tcudnoc ew hcihw ni syaw eht dnatsrednu stneilc taht tnatropmi si tI .stnemegnarra etarapes tuoba meht ot edivorp ew taht serusolcsid dna stnemeerga eht daer ylluferac yeht taht dna ssenisub have our enviable, arid Mediterranean climate. ta tnemucod FDP eht weiver esaelp ,noitamrofni erom roF .reffo ew secivres ro stcudorp eht .suhtiwgnikrow/moc.sbu noitacfiitrec eht snwo .cnI sdradnatS fo draoB rennalP laicnaniF defiitreC PFC skram ® rennalP laicnaniF defiitreC , ™ ,.S.U eht ni )ngised emafl htiw( PFC deretsiger yllaredef dna

In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the complicated nature noitacfiitrec gniogno dna laitini s’draoB PFC etelpmoc yllufsseccus ohw slaudividni ot sdrawa ti hcihw .stnemeriuqer AMIC ® stnatlusnoC tnemeganaM tnemtsevnI eht fo kram noitacfiitrec deretsiger a si .ediwdlrow dna aciremA fo setatS detinU eht ni .cnI ,noitaicossA SBU .devreser sthgir llA .0202 SBU© of Montecito’s proposed “Water Sharing Agreement” or WSA, with .CPIS/ARNIF rebmeM .GA SBU fo yraidisbus a si .cnI secivreS laicnaniF 94238FF9-SBU-D Santa Barbara. We’ll also explore 6 MONTECITO JOURNAL “We learn from experience that men never learn anything from experience.” – George Bernard Shaw

Montecito’s historical relationship to Santa Barbara’s desalination project and how the MWD was unable to reach a deal with the city, at least until now. On January 28 and 29 of this year, both MWD’s board and Santa Barbara’s city council agreed to a so-called “term sheet,” the final draft of which is 20 pages long. It’s an ambitious document, which if passed by MWD and Santa Barbara’s city council this month, will represent an historic moment in the annals of California environmental policy.

Water, Water, Everywhere

In the late 1980s, as tends to happen every decade or so, Santa Barbara and the rest of California faced a chronic water shortage that lasted several years, a crisis that led many coastal cities to consider building water desalination facilities. The success rate of these projects tended to be 50-50 at best, since water desalination plants are expensive to build and operate. There’s also the quandary the entire process can take so long, especially in environmentally conscious California, that by the time a desal plant finally goes online, water needs change and it is no longer needed.

Controversy over various desal projects in California has become routine, and while well-organized environmental groups have complained about dangers to local sea life, vociferous proponents of desal seem to be all but nonexistent. When desal started, the technology was too new and seemingly untested to win unanimous support.

“You have these outspoken people,” said Joshua Haggmark, Santa Barbara’s Water Resources Manager, who joined the agency in 1999. “And while I don’t understand their reasoning, there’s really nobody passionate about desal. You typically only hear from the environmental groups.”

But all that may be changing now. While some former water district officials such as Dick Shaikewitz and Bob Roebuck strongly oppose the project, others, including MWD’s longtime former general manager Tom Mosby, believe that desal technology offers Montecito a means to find a reliable local supply of water for the next half-century.

1235 COAST VILLAGE ROAD I 805.969.0442 I

NOW OPEN

FOUR SEASONS RESORT THE BILTMORE SANTA BARBARA 805.969.3167 I MONTECITO, CA 93108 WWW.SILVERHORN.COM

Dr. Zerey Montecito Journal 6/10/2020 6/3/2020 Half Page: 9.866” x 6.19”

Open and ready to provide safe care.

We are prepared to protect your health. If you need medical care, don’t delay.

Your health is essential. Seek help if you need it.

Dr. Marc Zerey, General Surgeon, Chief of Staff, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital