Erik+B’s+2016+OpEd+Article

= Lake Casitas: Ventura County's Forbidden Paradise =



With a capacity of 254,000 acre feet, Lake Casitas is the 30th largest lake in california, and the largest lake in Ventura County ( [|__source__] ). The beautiful, rural setting of the lake makes it a secluded place to get away and relax. The only problem? The Lake Casitas Recreation area decided back in the 60’s that swimming and body contact with the water would not be allowed. This was not unreasonable for the time, considering that there was no water filtration system in place, and the Casitas Municipal water district relied solely on chlorine to disinfect the county’s water. Bacterial contamination from body contact was a real concern, and to maintain safety of the water supply, some recreational activities had to be sacrificed. Great, no problem. So where’s the beef? The issue here is that there IS currently a 9.3 million dollar filtration plant in operation ( [|__source__] ), and there has been for the past 20 years. The Marion Walker Pressure Filtration Plant has been in operation since 1996 and serves over 60,000 ventura county residents ( [|__source__] ). So why wasn't the swimming ban lifted when the Marion Walker Pressure Filtration Plant was completed? Because an advisory committee decided 20 years ago that despite data suggesting that the filtration system could handle the increased bacterial load resulting from swimming ( [|__source__] ), they would keep the swimming ban. The lake Casitas website only states that swimming isn’t allowed “Because Lake Casitas is a drinking water supply”( [|__source__] ). But with the filtration system in operation, is this concern really still relevant? Isn't it time we reconsidered the issue of swimming at lake Casitas, and consider the benefits of increased recreation opportunities for local residents, and the revenue for businesses near the Lake resulting from increased tourism?