Tag archives: Montecito water District

Will Montecito Go Full Speed Ahead with Desalinated Water?
By Nick Schou   |   May 21, 2020

This month, roughly 4,600 households in Montecito and Summerland received a special insert along with their monthly water bill. “WATER RATE UPDATE!” the flyer declared in urgent all caps, adding that the “Montecito Water District has Plans for Delivering a Secure Water Future.” Stating that its customers “want their drinking water to come from local, […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   May 14, 2020

More Gretchen, Please Last week’s article “A Man and His Dog” (by Gretchen Lieff) touched me – as so many of your articles do. I know I speak for many when I say we’d love to be able to follow more of Gretchen’s musings – and adventures – in your Journal. Sincerely Sharon Kantanen Free […]

MWD News
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   April 30, 2020

Montecito Water District’s Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting this week as scheduled. The agenda included updates on the status of a Water Supply Agreement with the City of Santa Barbara and the Rate Study. “These projects remain on schedule to be completed and ready for Board consideration in June,” said General Manager […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   April 30, 2020

STOP I believe it is ABSOLUTELY SCANDALOUS during the COVID CRISIS to have all five Board Members of the Montecito Water District, during the next 60 days to: 1. Mail a Public Board Notice2. Hold a Public Open House3. Hold a Public Hearing to Massively Raise its New Rates4. Approve its New Rates for Desal […]

News from Montecito Water District
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 19, 2020

The provision of safe water, sanitation, and hygienic conditions is essential to protecting human health during any infectious disease outbreak, including the current 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Montecito Water District (MWD) is prepared for the rapidly evolving situation and is actively monitoring guidance from local, national, and global health organizations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) […]

Montecito Water District Plans for Dry Weather
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   February 20, 2020

This time last year, we were “loving the rain,” but as a dry January stretches into a dry February, Montecito Water District customers are eager for status updates on the Water Supply Agreement with the City of Santa Barbara and the new Rate Study. A draft contract for a Long-Term Water Supply Agreement with the […]

Water Supply Plan Needed
By Robert Roebuck   |   January 23, 2020

During the recent severe drought, water restrictions coupled with financial penalties were adopted to encourage water conservation. For single family residence (SFR) the penalties affected consumption of water above 25 hundred cubic feet (hcf) per month. Since the average Montecito SFR uses 5 hcf/month for interior use and 17 hcf/month for exterior use the financial […]

No, To Desal
By Dick Shaikewitz   |   January 2, 2020

The Board of the Montecito Water District appears ready to enter into a 50-year, $1/4 billion contract with the City to acquire 1,409 acre feet of desal water a year. They are waiting for the new rate consultants they just hired in December for $82,221 to finish a new rate study. The Board terminated its […]

Coast Village Plaza Updates
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 5, 2019

Earlier this week, Khao Kaeng, the Thai food restaurant located in Coast Village Plaza, closed its doors after just a year in business. The eatery was the latest concept from the owners behind Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar at the Santa Barbara Public Market. Co-owners Jerry Lee, Emre Balli, and Nui Pannak signed the lease […]

CERT Graduates
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   November 21, 2019

The Montecito Emergency Recovery and Response Group (MERRAG) graduated their first ever community volunteers with CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) certificates on Saturday, November 9. The Montecito Fire Department hosted the intensive 20-hour course. The CERT program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   October 24, 2019

Twisting The Truth Mr. Buckley’s response to Glenn Griffith’s letter in the June 6-13 Journal, is yet another example of twisting the facts to suit one editor’s politics. Robert Mueller’s report did not indict the president, nor did it exonerate him. Rather, the report lays out a roadmap of Mr. Trump’s activities for Congress to […]

MUS Receives Award
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   October 10, 2019

Montecito Union School has received a Certificate of Recognition for valuable contributions towards water efficiency, conservation and stewardship from Montecito Water District. This award recognizes many steps that Montecito Union School has taken to reduce water consumption and model good water stewardship for the community. In recent years MUS has implemented several highly visible projects […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Montecito Journal   |   October 10, 2019

In Defense of New Sanitary District Building The need for staff showers at the Montecito Sanitary District wastewater treatment plant should be obvious. Staff are working with pathogen-loaded water that also contains antibiotic resistant microbes and their genes. This is biologically loaded pathogenic material (liquid and solids) capable of transferring pathogens to staff, their homes, […]

The Essential Services Building: A Necessary Investment
By Thomas Bollay   |   October 3, 2019

by Thomas Bollay, President and Tom Kern, Treasurer of the Montecito Sanitary District Board. For others, particularly our specialized workers who have tolerated inadequate facilities for years, the process has taken far too long. We write today as individual members of the Montecito Sanitary District Board, not to express an official board position, but to […]

Safe Routes to School Update
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   September 26, 2019

In an update to a story we brought you last week (MJ # 25/37), over 200 members of the Westmont student body participated in a Safe Routes to School Project for Cold Spring School, with support from the Bucket Brigade, Cold Spring Landscape, Cold Spring School parents and staff, Montecito Trails Foundation, and material donations […]

Roundabout Design Review
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   August 8, 2019

Next Monday, August 12, the Santa Barbara Architectural Board of Review (ABR) and Montecito Board of Architectural Review (MBAR) will hold a joint hearing to review the design of the Coast Village Road/Olive Mill Roundabout; members of the community are encouraged to attend to see the proposed plans and share their thoughts or concerns.  The […]

Recycled Water Update
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   July 4, 2019

After meeting on Tuesday, July 2, the joint committee of the Montecito Water and Sanitary Districts continues to move forward on several viable water reuse projects.  Water reuse options being pursued involve different treatment levels and different end-uses, including landscape irrigation (purple pipe), which involves treating wastewater for use in irrigation for large-scale commercial and […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   June 27, 2019

Just Another 101 Fable J.B.’s editor’s note in last week’s issue re “Failure to widen the 101 in 1993,” reminded me of my 25-year issue on this subject as a retired commuter. So here it is in the following: Another Fable from Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, SBCAG – Updated. In the News-Press for […]

Sweet Wheel Farm & Flowers
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 13, 2019

Leslie Person Ryan, the owner of Letter Perfect on Coast Village Road for 35 years, ventured into Summerland at the end of 2018, opening the Summerland Center for the Arts, a shop, gallery, and gathering space on Lillie Avenue. Last week she added a mobile produce shop to the Center, called Sweet Wheel Farm & […]

Water Moratorium Ends
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   June 6, 2019

At last week’s Montecito Water District Board of Directors meeting, the Board adopted Ordinance 96, which eliminates the prohibition on issuance of new water meters and brings water use restrictions up-to-date and consistent with the declared Stage 1 water shortage emergency and current water supply conditions. The water meter moratorium had been in effect since […]