United Water Conservation District tells Fillmore council its recharge operations benefit city wells; details $352 million Santa Felicia Dam safety project

United Water Conservation District officials told the Fillmore City Council on Aug. 12 that the district’s river diversion, recharge basins and recent imports from the State Water Project have substantially increased groundwater in the Fillmore Basin and helped stabilize a city production well. The district also described its Santa Felicia Dam safety-improvement project — including replacement of the dam’s outlet works and a spillway upgrade — with a current construction cost estimate of $352 million and a multiyear funding plan that relies on low-interest loans and competitive grants.

The update was presented by Mauricio Guardado, general manager of United Water Conservation District, who opened the presentation by outlining the district’s operations across a roughly 375-square-mile service area and the role of groundwater in Ventura County. “Most of the water use within the county here or this site within the district is actually from groundwater,” Guardado said, explaining why recharge is a priority for region-wide supply reliability.

United’s water-resources supervisor, Dr. Brahm Serkou, described how the district uses releases from Lake Piru and diversions at the Freeman Diversion to capture winter flows and intentionally recharge aquifers through spreading basins. Serkou showed monitoring data comparing groundwater elevations near the river and a City of Fillmore well, and said the city well’s level “would have gone down and continued that way” without conservation releases. He also noted that in 2023 the district diverted unusually large volumes — a calendar-year peak that drove record percolation into local basins.

Engineer Kaylee Taniguchi described Santa Felicia Dam and the district’s planned safety-improvement project. She said Santa Felicia, built in 1955 and regulated under a minor hydropower license by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), is also subject to the California Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) and must maintain an Emergency Action Plan reviewed by Cal OES. Taniguchi said the district plans to replace the existing outlet works with seismically robust intake and conduits routed around (not through) the dam, abandon the existing outlet works in place and increase spillway capacity to pass the district’s inflow design flood (220,000 cubic feet per second). The combined construction estimate the district provided to the council is $352,000,000 (2025 dollars), which includes contingencies and assumes partial financing through an EPA loan and grant applications.

Why it matters: Fillmore relies on groundwater for municipal supply. United told the council that its managed releases and imported water are designed to reduce seawater intrusion on the Oxnard Plain, support agricultural irrigation and keep municipal wells productive in dry years. The Santa Felicia project addresses dam safety and extends the outlet works’ service life by an expected 50 years, but it also creates a major capital need that the district expects to cover with a mix of loans and competitive grant funding.

Supporting details and schedule: Taniguchi said design work on the dam project began in 2010 and environmental permitting is largely complete, but the district still needs a final NEPA environmental assessment, a FERC license amendment and a Clean Water Act section 404 permit. The district reported closing a low-interest EPA loan for design and an executed master agreement for a larger EPA loan; the construction loan is pending. The district listed pursuing FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding with an application due Sept. 15. Taniguchi outlined a construction schedule the district is targeting: outlet works construction contractor selection in 2026 with construction 2027–2030, and spillway contractor selection in 2030 with completion in 2032–2033. The district said the existing outlet works would be abandoned in place after the new facilities are complete.

Council questions and follow-up: Council members asked how Fillmore’s pumping compares statewide and whether overdraft or subsidence were risks locally; Serkou said Fillmore Basin experienced large, rapid rises in groundwater during wet years, and it has not shown the chronic unrecoverable declines or subsidence seen in some Central Valley basins. Council members also asked about water-supply impacts from development upstream; Serkou said any increased upstream demand would be evaluated by the local Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA). Council and staff discussed the district’s grant work and the importance of letters of support from cities when United applies for federal funding.

What the council requested and next steps: The district asked local jurisdictions for letters of support for grant applications, including FEMA Hazard Mitigation funds. Council members expressed support for coordinating with United on grant letters and legislative outreach and asked staff to track opportunities and report back. United representatives said they would follow up with the city on grant-application support and available technical data.

Ending: The presentation concluded with United offering to provide data and contact points for further council questions; the council did not take formal action on the presentation but asked staff to coordinate future follow-up and potential letters of support for grant applications.