A new Grand Jury report says a contact governing the availability of water from Lake Cachuma for Santa Barbara County residents is outdated, vague in some areas and doesn’t address future concerns. The Santa Barbara County Grand Jury looked at the agreement between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the various local water agencies which get water from the lake.
The federal agency has ownership of the dam and lake. The current contract with the local agencies is set to expire, with a new one due in 2020.
The 26 page report calls on local agencies to meet regularly to insure they are in agreement over a new deal. It says the current contract doesn’t adequately address key water management issues, and that a new agreement could help fix it. It also calls for provisions for modifying the agreement to deal with impacts of climate change.
