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The City of Oxnard Water Division is pleased to be a partner or affiliated with the following organizations and agencies in an effort to provide the best quality water to the residents and business owners of Oxnard:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water

The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW), together with states, tribes, and their many partners, is to protect public health by ensuring safe drinking water and protecting ground water.

They accomplish this mission using the following principles:

Prevention as an effective approach.

Risk-based priority setting for new and existing regulations, based on sound science, quality data in reliable databases, and quality methods and standards.

Partnership and involvement of public and private organizations, citizens, and communities.

Flexibility and effectiveness in implementation while maintaining a national public health baseline.

Accountability of all parties through public participation and accessible information.

Results documented and presented clearly.

For more information, visit the EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water website.

State of California Department of Health Services

State of California Department of Health Services Appointed by the Governor, the Department of Health Services' Director heads one of the largest departments in State Government, with over 5,000 employees working in the Sacramento headquarters and over 60 field offices throughout the State. DHS is one of 13 departments comprising the Health and Welfare Agency.

DHS is organized into seven programs and six support areas -- Health Information and Strategic Planning, Licensing and Certification, Medical Care Services, Office of Multicultural Health, Office of Women's Health, Prevention Services, Primary Care and Family Health; and Administration, Audits and Investigations, Civil Rights, Legislative and Governmental Affairs, Legal Services, and Public Affairs. The Deputy Directors for these respective program and support functions report directly to the Director and Chief Deputy Director.

The mission of the California Department of Health Services (DHS) is to protect and improve the health of all Californians. With the support of dedicated and skilled employees and the application of public health sciences, the Department is committed to:

Reducing the occurrence of preventable disease, disability, and premature death among all Californians.

Closing the gaps in health status and access to care among the State's diverse population subgroups.

Providing leadership and setting the standard in reforming health care into a coordinated, accountable, and affordable health care system which emphasizes access to appropriate preventive measures and high-quality services.

Building and fostering strong partnerships for health with local health agencies, public and private agencies, community-based organizations, providers, consumers, educational and academic institutions, and other interested groups.

Improving the quality and cultural competence of the Department's operations, services, and programs.

For more information, visit the State of California Department of Health Services website.

State Water Resources Control Board

The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) was created by the Legislature in 1967. The mission of the SWRCB is to ensure the highest reasonable quality of waters of the state, while allocating those waters to achieve the optimum balance of beneficial uses. The joint authority of water allocation and water quality protection enables the SWRCB to provide comprehensive protection for California's waters.

The SWRCB consists of five full-time salaried members, each filling a different specialty position. Board members are appointed to four-year terms by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate.

There are nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCBs) . The mission of the RWQCBs is to develop and enforce water quality objectives and implementation plans which will best protect the beneficial uses of the State's waters, recognizing local differences in climate, topography, geology and hydrology.

Each RWQCB has nine part-time members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. Regional Boards develop "basin plans" for their hydrologic areas, issue waste discharge requirements, take enforcement action against violators, and monitor water quality.

The task of protecting and enforcing the many uses of water, including the needs of industry, agriculture, municipal districts, and the environment is an ongoing challenge for the SWRCB and RWQCBs.

For more information, visit the State Water Resources Control Board website.

State of California Department of Water Resources

The mission of the State of California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is to manage the water resources of California in cooperation with other agencies, to benefit the State's people, and to protect, restore, and enhance the natural and human environments.

The following are summaries of DWR's major responsibilities:

Goal 1 - Prepare and update the California Water Plan to guide development and management of the State's water resources.

Goal 2 - Plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain the State Water Resources Development System to supply good quality water for municipal, industrial, agricultural, and recreational uses and for fish and wildlife protection and enhancement.

Goal 3 - Protect and restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by controlling salinity and providing water supplies for Delta water users, planning long-term solutions for environmental and water use problems facing the Delta, and administering levee maintenance reimbursements and special flood control projects.

Goal 4 - Regulate dams, provide flood protection, and assist in emergency management to safeguard life and property by supervising design, construction, operation, and maintenance of more than 1,200 jurisdictional dams; encouraging preventive floodplain management practices; maintaining and operating Sacramento Valley flood control facilities; cooperating in flood control planning and facility development; and providing flood advisory information.

Goal 5 - Educate the public about the importance of water and its proper use; and collect, analyze, and distribute water-related information to the general public and to the scientific, technical, educational, and water management communities.

Goal 6 - Serve local water needs by providing technical assistance; cooperating with local agencies on water resources investigations; supporting watershed and river restoration programs; encouraging water conservation; exploring conjunctive use of ground and surface water; facilitating voluntary water transfers; and, when needed, operating a State drought water bank.

For more information, visit the State of California Department of Water Resources website.

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a consortium of 26 cities and water districts that provides drinking water to nearly 17 million people in parts of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino
and Ventura counties.

The mission of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is to provide its service area with adequate and reliable supplies of high-quality water to meet present and future needs in an environmentally and economically responsible way.

Metropolitan currently delivers an average of 1.7 billion gallons of water per day to a 5,200-square-mile service area.

For more information, visit the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California website.

United Water Conservation District (UWCD)

For more than 65 years, the United Water Conservation District and its predecessor, the Santa Clara Water Conservation District, have distinguished themselves as the leaders among environmental water agencies by conserving and enhancing water resources.

United continues to enhance water supplies through groundwater replenishment, and through the construction and operation of water supply and delivery systems.

The mission of the United Water Conservation District is to manage, protect, convserve and enhance the water resources of the Santa Clara River, its tributaries, and associated aquifers in the most cost effective and environmentally balanced manner.

For more information, visit the United Water Conservation District website.

Calleguas Municipal Water District (CMWD)

In 1953, faced with a burgeoning population and an expanding economy that would soon exhaust local drinking water supplies, voters within southern Ventura County united to create the Calleguas Municipal Water District for the purpose of providing the region with a reliable supply of high quality supplemental water. Today, the District serves an area of approximately 350 square miles
in southern Ventura County. Communities served include the cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Port Hueneme and the unincorporated areas of Oak Park, Santa Rosa Valley, Bell Canyon, Lake Sherwood, Somis, Camarillo Estates, and Camarillo Heights.

In just over thirty years, the population of the District's service area has nearly quadrupled from 138,000 in 1964 to an estimated 520,000 in 1996, roughly 75 percent of Ventura County's population. Rapid population and economic growth has placed additional demands on the District resulting in an increase in annual deliveries from 9,000 acre feet to in excess of 95,000 acre feet over the same period.

The mission of the Calleguas Municipal Water District is to provide its service area with a reliable and adequate supply of quality supplemental water through the acquisition and distribution of both regional and locally-developed water in an environmentally and economically responsible manner."

For more information, visit the Calleguas Municipal Water District website.

Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency

The Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Authority was established by the State of California via Assembly Bill 2995, and operates under Water Uncodified Acts - Deering 2750, Section 121 or Water Code - Appendix, Sections 108-1 to end (self-governing).

Weather data is provided by the Fox Canyon GMA to improve water management and to conserve water resources. CIMIS or California Irrigation Management Information System weather data is actual climate and soil measurements used to estimate the amount of water evaporation, compared to the amount actually used by irrigated pasture (uncut cool-season grass). Grass is used as a standard or benchmark to compare other crop water requirements. The combined value for grass is called the "reference evapotranspiration" or "Eto".

For more information, visit the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency website.