Meeting presents vision for Ventura River
Posted on 19. Jul, 2012
Arlene Martinez/VC Star/7-19-12:…Ventura River Parkway, a long-term project they say could create recreational, educational and economic benefits (Full Article)…The groups hope to work with private property owners, securing conservation subdivisions. But such subdivisions — a legal process that involves slicing a piece of land in cases when not an entire piece of property is being donated — can be time-consuming and costly.”It’s really a pretty daunting process,” said Lynn Jensen, whose firm Jensen Design & Survey is assisting the Ojai conservancy with a subdivision. So far, it’s cost $50,000 and taken more than a year, which could be a problem when considering all the subdivisions that will likely need to happen, Jensen said.
Throughout the presentations at Wednesday’s meeting, images flashed on a screen — of a woman and her children in a swimming hole, of young men hoisting large fish. That wasn’t lost on some in attendance who use the river’s water for their livelihood.
“What kind of constraints on water use will this entail?” asked Jurgen Gramckow, who grows mostly tangerines on roughly 300 acres in Ojai.
County Supervisor Steve Bennett said it was unlikely anyone would have a definitive answer at this point in the process but that conservation by urban dwellers likely would play a role.
“We can’t disadvantage farmers,” Mulley added.
Gramckow said: “I’m not opposed to public access and recreation, but everything has to be balanced. If we have to take land out of production to take less water, it’s a big price to pay, and I couldn’t support that.”
Jensen, who is also executive director of the Ventura Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business, said: “You have to be careful of the management of the water in these watersheds if you want to continue agricultural use.”
Though getting parkways complete isn’t always easy or quick, supporters said they can be quite special.
Said Jenniches, “Rivers tell the stories of the people who live around them.”
