Member Agencies* and Project Participants
of the Central Coast Water Authority

The City encompasses an area of approximately 14,361 acres (22.44 square miles). The City lies along the Santa Maria River and within the Santa Maria Valley. The Santa Maria Valley is predominately flat with rolling hills on three sides and the Pacific Ocean on the west. The City expects that the undeveloped land within its boundaries will continue to be developed and that the City's estimated population at buildout, in the year 2030, will be approximately 115,000 persons.

Santa Barbara became an American City in 1850 and was incorporated by an act of the first California Legislature. At that time, the City began to grow, transforming from a city of adobe structures to one of brick and wood. By 1870, the City had a population of 2,889. In 1872, local investors united and organized the Mission Water Company. This company built the first pipeline lateral system in the City.

The first municipally owned water supply for Santa Barbara was provided through the completion of Cold Springs Tunnel in 1900. In 1912, the City purchased the Santa Barbara Water Company holdings which included the reservoir sites on the Santa Ynez River. Construction of Gibraltar Dam started in 1913 and was completed in 1920. In 1936-37, the Mono and Caliente silt dams were built to create reservoirs for retaining the silt from these two main tributaries to the Santa Ynez River.

The County Board of Supervisors in 1941 entered into a cost sharing contract with the United States (Bureau of Reclamation) for an investigational survey of a long range water program conforming with the area's needs and capacity to pay. This investigation eventually led to the authorization of the Cachuma Project (as described below), and the establishment of the Santa Barbara County Water Agency by the State Legislature (September 15, 1945). The Cachuma Project was authorized for construction by the Secretary of the Interior, March 24, 1948, and in 1949 the Santa Barbara County Water Agency entered into an agreement with the United States to design and construct the Cachuma Project. The Cachuma Project was completed on February 26, 1956. The dry cycle from 1945-49 and the decrease in storage due to silt at Gibraltar Reservoir led to a special bond election on December 17, 1946, which provided funds to raise Gibraltar Dam to restore it to its original capacity. The enlargement of the Gibraltar Dam was completed in February 1949.

The City currently provides water to approximately 82,000 municipal and industrial customers. The City historically obtained approximately 35% of its water supplies from the Gibraltar Reservoir on the Santa Ynez River, approximately 53% of its water supplies from the Cachuma Project, and approximately 12% of its water supplies from the local groundwater basins. Additionally, the City recently constructed an ocean desalination facility to supplement its supplies during the drought as well as during emergencies. The facility has an existing capacity of 7,500 acre-feet (which can be expanded to 10,000 acre-feet). The facility's capacity is shared by the City (3,181 acre-feet), Montecito Water District (1,250 acre-feet) and Goleta Water District (3,069 acre-feet).

More information on the City of Santa Barbara water supply sources

The City is located in the Santa Ynez Valley (central portion of Santa Barbara County) between the Cities of Lompoc and Solvang approximately 40 miles north of the City of Santa Barbara and 35 miles south of the City of Santa Maria at the intersection of Highways 101 and 246. It has a population of approximately 3,700 and currently provides water to approximately 950 municipal and industrial customers. The City currently obtains 100% of its water supply from wells. The wells draw water from two water sources, the Santa Ynez River Underflow, as authorized through appropriated rights permitted by the State of California, and groundwater extraction from the Buellton Upland Groundwater Basin.

The District is located in the south coastal portion of Santa Barbara County and includes the community of Goleta. It has a population of approximately 74,000 and currently provides water to approximately 13,820 municipal and industrial customers and approximately 208 agricultural customers. The District currently obtains approximately 80% of its water supplies from the Cachuma Project and pumps approximately 20% of its water supplies from the local groundwater basin.

More information on the Goleta Water District

The 1913 Act was superseded by the present County Water District Act found in Division 12 of the State of California Water Code (both the Acts will be referred to herein as the "Act"). Montecito Water District changed its name from "Montecito County Water District" to "Montecito Water District" pursuant to Section 31006 of the Water Code. The District was formed for the purposes of furnishing potable water within the District.

The District is located in the southern coastal portion of Santa Barbara County and includes the unincorporated community of Montecito. It has a population of approximately 11,500 and currently provides water to approximately 3,200 municipal and industrial customers and approximately 60 agricultural customers. The District currently obtains approximately 54% of its water supplies from the Cachuma Project, 34% of its water supplies from Jameson Lake, Fox and Alder Creeks and Doulton Tunnel and pumps approximately 12% of its water supplies from the local groundwater basin. The District's pumping from the basin is in its capacity as an overlying landowner, trustee for certain overlying landowners and as an appropriator.

More information on the Montecito Water District.

The District has acquired three different water companies, all within the boundaries of the District, in the past years in order to provide more reliable service to the customers of the District. The first water company to be acquired was the Shepard Mesa Mutual Water Company on February 8, 1955. Subsequently, Ocean Oaks Water Company was transferred to the District on July 6, 1957. The third and largest water company to be acquired was the Carpinteria Water Company which was first started in 1919 by Frank L. Stewart. In 1922, because of increased demand for additional service, Frank L. Stewart formed a partnership with E. Stanley Atkinson which was known as the Stewart-Atkinson Water Company of Carpinteria. After a public hearing was conducted, the State of California Public Utilities Commission approved on July 22, 1924 the incorporation of the Stewart-Atkinson Water Company. The company was named the "Carpinteria Water Company." A certificate of public convenience and necessity was granted by the State of California Public Utilities Commission on December 31, 1924, and authority to operate a public utility system was granted on March 5, 1925. The Carpinteria Water Company was serving approximately 165 customers at that time. By 1949, the Carpinteria Water Company was serving approximately 820 customers. At the time of purchase and transfer of the Carpinteria Water Company to the District on July 1, 1964, active service connections totaled approximately 1,600.

The District is located in the southern coastal portion of Santa Barbara County and includes the City of Carpinteria. It has a population of approximately 15,900 and currently provides water to approximately 3,565 municipal and industrial customers and approximately 429 agricultural customers. The District obtains approximately 55% of its water supplies from the Cachuma Project and pumps approximately 45% of its water supplies from the local groundwater basin.

The District is located in the central portion of Santa Barbara County and includes the communities of Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, Ballard, and the City of Solvang. It has a population of approximately 7,000 and currently provides water to approximately 2,115 municipal and industrial customers and approximately 110 agricultural customers. The District currently obtains approximately 34% of its water supplies from the Cachuma Project and pumps approximately 66% of its water supplies from the local groundwater basin and river alluvium.

The Company's service area is located in the southern coastal portion of Santa Barbara County and includes the communities of Hope Ranch and Hope Ranch Annex. The Company is within the boundaries of the Goleta Water District and is a customer of the Goleta Water District. The Company currently provides an average of 1,600 acre-feet per year of water to approximately 1,330 municipal and industrial customers and approximately 17 agricultural customers. The Company currently obtains approximately 20% of its water supplies from the Goleta Water District and pumps approximately 80% of its water supplies from local groundwater basins.

Between the wars and as late as January 1957, the military reservation had reverted back to its previous use for cattle and sheep grazing. Transformation of Camp Cooke into the nation's first space and ballistic missile operational and training base began in 1957 when it was transferred to the United States Air Force. In the preceeding year it was renamed Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Today, the base is operated by Air Force Space Command's 30th Space Wing. Its mission at Vandenberg is to (1) manage and support space lift operations, (2) support flight tests of the nations intercontinental ballistic missile force, (3) operate the Western Range network, a geographic region consisting of instrumentation sites along the California coast and extending downrange in the Hawaiian Islands, for use by the U.S. Government and commercial launch firms operating from Vandenberg with space, missile, and aeronautical vehicles, and (4) provide host base support services for the Vandenberg AFB community.

The Company employs approximately 1,450 people at its primary facility, which is located in Goleta, and approximately 150 people at its branch facility, which is located in Santa Maria. It owns approximately 9.4 acres of land in Goleta and owns or rents 14 buildings with a total of approximately 640,000 square feet of space in Goleta and owns approximately 75 acres of land and one building of approximately 121,000 square feet of space in Santa Maria.

The Company's customers include the United States Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, various universities, and certain industrial concerns. It reports annual sales of approximately $178,000,000.

The Company's production of infrared components requires the use of ultra-high quality deionized water. Over the past five years, it has consumed an average of approximately 69.55 acre-feet of water per year, ranging from a low of 59.14 acre-feet in 1990 to a high of 85.14 acre-feet in 1989. It projects annual requirements of 89.52 acre-feet for the current year and the four years thereafter.

The Company has contracted for 50 acre-feet of water from the State Water Project. This water will be used primarily as a supplemental supply for system reliability. The Company's share of the Bond financing is approximately 0.270%.

The Company has developed water rights, and a water treatment plant and storage facility to serve the townsite and possibly nearby properties. Negotiations are underway with Goleta Water District to obtain a water transfer agreement by which Goleta Water District will transfer the Company's State water allotment through its existing facilities to the Company's distribution connection.

The formation of a mutual water company for the area, the Naples Mutual Water Company, is in the early stages. Once completed, the Company intends to convey all of its water facilities and its Water Supply Agreement to Naples and also, perhaps, nearby properties located outside the townsite.