1. Previously approved CAP charges will appear on monthly water bills. At its October 28, 2026, meeting, the Carpinteria Valley Water District board voted 5-0 to adopt Resolution 1188, changing collection of the CAP capital charge from the proposed property-tax-roll method to monthly water bills beginning January 1, 2027. For a typical 2-inch agricultural meter, the charge will be $47.92 per month for the remaining six months of FY27 and $49.24 per month in FY29. For a typical three-quarter-inch residential meter, it will start at $8.98 per month. The annual agricultural charge is $287.52 in FY27 and $590.92 in FY29; further increases are projected for FY30, when principal payments on the district’s $50 million CAP loan are expected to begin. Staff reported seven protests. No one spoke in support at the hearing; one speaker, without taking a position, asked about collection costs and potential effects on landlords and tenants. The resolution changed the collection method, not the previously adopted charge amounts.
2. The preliminary Smiley well estimate is $7 million. The replacement well and aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) project is estimated at $7 million, up from the $5.8 million estimate in the grant application. The failed well will become a monitoring well, and a new production well will be capable of injection. Staff-recommended additions include on-site chlorine generation, estimated at about $370,000, and an equipment building, estimated at about $400,000. Roughly $400,000 in other increases has not been fully reconciled with the original estimate. A $2.9 million federal Bureau of Reclamation grant remains in place; staff is exploring a state grant to address a $1.3 million gap beyond currently budgeted funding. Staff said a state grant award would not be known before the spring decision on whether to seek construction bids. Directors postponed a decision on a $67,252.50 design contract amendment requiring $25,000 in additional authorization and requested more cost detail. Staff said the item could return November 11.
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