Situation 'not good'

Glen Peterson of the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District board attended last week's Calabasas City Council meeting to present a gift of books for the city's library, but he also carried bad news concerning the area's water situation.

A local water shortage is being felt due to a slender, two-inch long fish called the Delta Smelt, which was named a threatened species in 1993. The fish lives in the Bay Delta, which runs from Sacramento to Stockton.

"The water situation is not good," Peterson said. "A judge has now called the smelt an endangered species, so we've had to slow down and shut down the pumps in the Delta. We are getting only 30 percent of the water we normally get. Even if it gets up to 45 percent, that's still quite a hit."

All of the Las Virgenes water supply comes from the Delta via the State Water Project.

City Councilmember Barry Groveman asked if the problem was a shortage of water or a cost issue.

"It's not a cost or a shortage," Peterson said. "We have the water, but we can't use the pumps. The water has to be kept very fresh and as a result of that, the fish gets all mixed up. It's not a matter of money, it's a matter of political will.

- Joann Groff