The Santa Clarita City Council will meet Tuesday at 5 p.m. for the sole purpose of drafting a letter seeking more time to comment on a chloride cleanup plan that’s in the works.
The Regional Water Quality Control Board, a state agency, reviewed 40-year-old studies conducted elsewhere and leaped to the conclusion that amount of chloride (salt) that’s flowing out of the Santa Clarita Valley is harmful to Ventura County farmers’ strawberry and avocado crops.
The SCV Sanitation District is the entity that’s charged with solving the problem, if one exists. A solution could cost SCV residents hundreds of millions of dollars, and public officials are in disagreement over whether a problem exists that would require a multi-million-dollar solution.
The Sanitation District is preparing a “draft chloride facilities plan” and environmental impact report that would lay out various options for reducing chloride discharges.
The statutory 60-day comment period expires June 24, and the City Council said at its May 28 meeting that it wanted to draft a letter requesting more time.
Tuesday’s special council meeting is being held to go over the contents of that letter.
Council to Meet Tuesday to Discuss Chloride
