United Water Seeks Voter Approval for $350M Water Bond

Ventura County's regional water manager is asking property owners to approve the largest water infrastructure investment in the district's nearly century-long history. The United Water Conservation District (UWCD) Board of Directors voted unanimously on June 10, 2026 to place a $350 million General Obligation Bond Measure — formally titled the Water Supply, Conservation and Water Quality Bond Measure — before voters on the November 3, 2026 ballot, according to the Ventura Breeze. For Ventura residents who draw drinking water from the shared aquifers beneath the Oxnard Plain, the stakes are immediate and personal.

Three Projects, Three Non-Negotiable Deadlines

The bond would fund three capital projects that district officials describe not as wish-list improvements but as regulatory requirements.

Santa Felicia Dam Safety Improvement Project: The Santa Felicia project sits on Piru Creek in Ventura County and is subject to a FERC license that runs through 2048. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the California Division of Safety of Dams have mandated seismic and flood-capacity upgrades to bring the structure up to modern dam safety standards. According to UWCD's bond measure page, those upgrades are required to protect the approximately 237,000 residents living downstream. The Santa Felicia Dam stores water in Lake Piru during winter and spring, then releases it in fall to recharge groundwater basins via the Freeman Diversion downstream — a two-step system that underpins the entire region's water supply.

Freeman Diversion Improvement Project: The Vern Freeman Diversion Dam, built in 1991, is the workhorse of the region's groundwater recharge system. Since its construction, the facility has diverted an average of 60,000 acre-feet a year for groundwater recharge, replenishing the aquifers beneath the Oxnard Plain and slowing seawater intrusion beneath 50,000 acres of productive prime agricultural lands. In a banner year like 2023, the facility diverted 148,000 acre-feet — approximately 48 billion gallons — significantly surpassing a record previously set in 1998. The proposed improvement project fulfills a binding federal court judgment requiring fish passage upgrades under the Endangered Species Act, while also increasing annual groundwater recharge by 5,000 to 8,000 acre-feet per year, officials said.

Extraction Barrier and Brackish Water Treatment Project: Seawater intrusion has been pushing inland into the Oxnard Plain's groundwater basin for decades — the problem was first noticed in the 1940s during a major drought that caused over-pumping of groundwater. This third project would install a groundwater extraction barrier and treatment system to halt that advance. It is identified as a key project in the region's Groundwater Sustainability Plan, a state-mandated blueprint required under California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

What Ventura Residents Stand to Lose — or Gain

The water at stake is not abstract. The Freeman Diversion supports more than 377,000 people who depend on the aquifers that UWCD recharges through the facility. The water UWCD diverts to recharge groundwater benefits municipal users in the cities of Oxnard, Port Hueneme, and Ventura, which have wells that draw on those aquifers. Beyond residential taps, the system underpins an agricultural economy of enormous scale: the Freeman Diversion sustains $1.08 billion in annual crop production in Ventura County and supports 16,800 jobs and $994 million in direct and indirect agriculture income.

Failure to make the dam and fish passage upgrades would risk regulatory sanctions that could sharply curtail diversions — and thus groundwater recharge. The district has already litigated with federal agencies over bypass-flow requirements at the Freeman Diversion; a Federal Circuit court affirmed in 2025 that restrictions on United's water diversion rights did not constitute a compensable taking, leaving the district responsible for compliance on its own.

The Funding Gap — And Why a Bond

UWCD has pursued every available outside revenue stream. The district has secured $31.5 million in grants and up to $83 million in low-interest federal financing, including $13 million in commitments through the EPA's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, officials reported. Those federal funds have already covered engineering, environmental review, permitting, and design costs, meaning all three projects are construction-ready — not speculative proposals, the district says.

But a significant funding gap remains even with every grant secured, every loan committed, and every appropriation pursued. The bond measure is designed to close that gap without triggering rate increases, according to the Ventura Breeze. General Manager Mauricio Guardado put it plainly: "The projects this bond would fund are not optional. They are required by regulators, driven by court obligations, and essential to protecting the groundwater our communities depend on."

Board President Lynn Maulhardt said the board was deliberate in taking the decision to voters: "There is a great deal hanging in the balance, and it was important to this Board that voters have their say in how we move forward."

For property owners, the estimated cost is approximately $121 per year — about $10 per month — for the average homeowner.

A District With Deep Roots in the Region's Water Story

Founded in 1927 as the Santa Clara River Water Conservation District, UWCD has managed the hydrology of the Santa Clara River and the Oxnard Coastal Plain for nearly a century. The district encompasses 214,000 acres of the Santa Clara River Valley and the Oxnard Plain and serves as conservator of groundwater resources for the cities of Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Ventura, Santa Paula, and Fillmore, as well as Naval Base Ventura County. Its facilities — including the Santa Felicia Dam, the Freeman Diversion, and spreading grounds in Saticoy, El Rio, and Piru — form the backbone of the county's water resilience.

The district is funded primarily through groundwater pumping charges, property taxes, and water delivery charges. A general obligation bond, if approved, would be repaid through property assessments — meaning every landowner within the district's boundaries would contribute.

What Comes Next

The measure goes before Ventura County voters on November 3, 2026. General obligation bonds in California for special districts typically require a two-thirds supermajority for passage. UWCD has opened a public information portal where voters can read the full Bond Report and submit questions at unitedwater.org/bond.

For Ventura residents accustomed to thinking of their tap water as someone else's problem to solve, this ballot measure is a direct reminder of how interconnected the region's water infrastructure truly is. Three projects. Three regulatory deadlines. One vote.