The Ventura River is more than a waterway. The Ventura River is the lifeblood of communities in the watershed and supports biodiversity that makes this area special. It has shaped local history as a place of deep cultural significance as part of the ancestral homeland of the Chumash and as a place where generations of people have fished and gathered. Today, the river plays an essential role in the vitality of our region by supplying water, connecting people to nature as a place to swim and relax, and supporting wildlife and natural ecosystems.
In the coming weeks, the Ventura River needs us to speak up on its behalf. Three important meetings, taking place on September 30 and October 19 (at 10 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.), will help shape the river’s future.
How We Got Here
For two decades, Channelkeeper has worked to protect the Ventura River.
In 2014, after sections of the Ventura River near Foster Park went dry, we took legal action over the City of Ventura’s pumping and diversion there and the impacts those practices were having on river flows and public trust resources, including the endangered Southern California steelhead. A few years later, the City filed a cross-complaint, bringing other water users into the case and expanding it to the watershed-wide adjudication underway today. The outcome of this process will help shape the future of the watershed for decades to come.
In recent years, the work toward resolving the adjudication has unfolded through confidential mediation involving several parties including the City of Ventura, Casitas Municipal Water District, the City of Ojai, water agencies, state agencies, and others.
Time to Take Action
A series of upcoming public meetings will give community members an opportunity to learn more about and offer their perspectives on a proposed Physical Solution developed by City of Ventura, Casitas and several other parties to the adjudication.
A Physical Solution is a court-approved framework for resolving water uses while ensuring water is used reasonably and beneficially under California law.
Channelkeeper opposes the current version of the proposed Physical Solution because it does not:
- Require implementation of actions that will be established in a Fish Habitat Restoration Plan (FHRP).
- Provide a firm commitment to fund management actions.
- Use the recommended National Marine Fisheries Service steelhead recovery benchmark to inform management decisions.
- Include fish habitat restoration as the core action to undertake.
Addressing these shortcomings will help to promote results that advance steelhead recovery, improve the health of the watershed, and protect the public trust resources of the Ventura River.
We hope you will join us in advocating for a brighter future for the Ventura River.
Please attend a public meeting, share your points of view, bring your questions, and encourage others to come with you.
Meeting Info:
Monday, October 19 @ 10 a.m. In Person: Oak View Park & Resource Center Auditorium, 555 Mahoney Ave. Oak View, CA 93022
Monday, October 19 @ 5 p.m. Hybrid: In Person & Virtual via Zoom / Webinar ID 858 8343 3041 Spanish interpretation available by request. Email mhogan@cityofventura.ca.gov , Kent Hall, 111 W. Santa Ana St. Ojai, CA 93023
Speak Out:
Suggestions for how to structure your comments:
- Start with why the river is important to you: The Ventura River matters to me because____________
- Describe what you want to see:
Make sure restoration projects actually happen
Provide reliable funding
Set a clear goal for steelhead recovery
Make restoration the focus of the long-term plan
Keep an independent and qualified environmental voice at the table.
- End with the bigger picture: After more than a decade of work, the final solution should deliver for both people and the river – with restoration that happens, recovery we can measure, and accountability for getting the work done.