Tag archives: water
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
At the end of February, we issued a survey electronically to our membership, and the response rate was pretty strong and super-informative. We did this same thing in 2019, and it informed our work for the year. In 2019, our community identified as their top three priorities: 1. Safety and security: evacuations, emergencies, crime, and […]
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 […]
Not many people pay much attention to the Montecito Sanitary District. Neither did I. When solicited by the Water Security Team, I learned how change in the MSD direction was needed for several vital reasons. So, I became a candidate. Woody Barrett and I were voted by you, our community, in as directors, thank you! […]
The Montecito Sanitary District (MSD) was formed in 1947 with the sole purpose of collecting, treating and disposing of the community’s wastewater, but it didn’t actually come online as a completed sewage system and treatment facility until the early 1960s. Today, the MSD serves approximately 3,100 customers in Montecito, with only a scattered number of […]
It has been more than 25 years since the formal adoption of the Montecito Community Plan, crafted by concerned citizens, who were charged with protecting and preserving the special, small town, semi-rural residential character of our community. Back in 1995, semi-rural meant the lack of sidewalks and traffic lights, narrow winding roads, subtle road signage, […]
As the current Montecito Water District Board President, it is incumbent upon me to ensure that the public is provided the facts surrounding the long-term (50-year) draft agreement with the City of Santa Barbara in order to provide a complete “desal” picture to the residents of Montecito and Summerland. Historical Background In 2010 and 2015, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Montecito Sanitary District staff members Daniel Jacquez, Chief Plant Operator, and Marc Ciarlo, Operator Grade 5, recently received their Advanced Water Treatment Operator (AWTO) certifications. The AWTO certification program was recently developed using a nationally recognized process to define the roles and responsibilities for advanced wastewater treatment. This new certification program is jointly administered by […]
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 […]
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, […]
Montecito has emerged temporarily from a seven-year drought which ended in 2017. Our opportunity for permanent water security and independence from drought is to tap the biggest reservoir in the world, the Pacific Ocean, larger than all the world’s land masses combined. The Pacific Ocean covers 30% of the Earth’s surface, or 60 million square […]
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 […]
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 […]
It was a very in-tents occasion when Montecito dynamic duo, Justin and Mindy Mahy, hosted a boffo bash to mark their New Zealand company Kopu Sparkling Water’s high goal challenge at the Santa Barbara Polo Club. Justin’s mother, Pam, and father, Arthur, flew in for the occasion from Auckland on the country’s North Island, for […]
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 […]
Expensive Water The five current Montecito Water District directors, who raised over $200,000 in campaign funds to help get elected, are close to finalizing a 50 years agreement with the City of Santa Barbara to purchase some of its desal water that could cost the 4,600 Montecito Water District customers about one quarter of a […]
