At a hearing on January 20, 2022, the court rescheduled the start date of the Phase 1 trial to begin on March 16, 2022. It is expected that the Phase 1 trial will last approximately 15 court days. Before holding a hearing for the court to consider adopting the proposed physical solution, several parties in the Ojai Basin and Upper Ojai Basin wanted the City to first prove that those basins are interconnected with the Ventura River. The purpose of the Phase 1 trial is to have those issues tried first. In December 2021, the Court approved the boundaries of the watershed and the boundaries of the four groundwater basins. Additional information is available at www.venturariverwatershedadjudication.com
If the Proposing Parties successfully prove interconnection in the Phase 1 trial, their hope is that parties who have not stipulated to the proposed physical solution will negotiate with the Proposing Parties on necessary changes to the document. Then, they could go forward together in requesting that the court approve the physical solution, and work together to manage the watershed for decades to come for the benefit of all communities in the watershed.
In July 2021, the Proposed Parties lodged a revised Public Draft of the Proposed Physical Solution to protect the Ventura River Watershed. It is available here: https://www.venturariverwatershedadjudication.com/admin/services/connectedapps.cms.extensions/1.0.0.0/asset?id=ba5a7fd1-7095-4bb2-ba57-e4608b7f1046&languageId=1033&inline=true