• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Lake Arrowhead Residents Wonder About Area's Future After Water Use Ruling

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 August 2005, 00:00 CDT

Aug. 9--LAKE ARROWHEAD -- Taking in the lake, full after a seven-year drought, from his docked boat, Jack Immel wondered what to make of a state decision that bars use of the lake for drinking water.

"We own the lake, we live up here, but we can't drink it?" the Lake Arrowhead resident of seven years asked rhetorically Monday afternoon. "It doesn't make sense."

A week after the State Water Resources Control Board ruled that the Lake Arrowhead Community Services District was not entitled to water from the lake, Immel and other residents are grappling with what the decision will mean for the resort community.

The state agency's decision ordered the water district to wean itself from using the lake as a source for drinking water and stop approving water meters for new building -- essentially placing a moratorium on development.

Water district officials, who say the lake has been the community's main source of drinking water for 80 years, voted last week to request a hearing in front of the state board to challenge its ruling. Local district board members will meet this morning to discuss its options and determine when the moratorium on water meters would go into effect, district spokeswoman April Blakey said.

The decision has renewed the debate over growth and maintaining enough water in the lake for recreation versus using it for drinking and irrigation. "It's huge," said Craig Aaron, a 17-year Lake Arrowhead resident, as he walked along the lake Monday with his wife, Michelle, and 5-year-old daughter, Sydney. "It's been a topic no doubt."

Aaron and his wife say they favor slowing development so that the area maintains a rural character but question whether a moratorium is the right way to go about it.

"I don't think it's going to be a positive thing for the community," Craig Aaron said. "I think there's going to be a lot of people out of work."

For Tom Houske, owner of the 59-year-old McKenzie Water Ski School, a full lake is essential.

"We believe the lake was built for recreation purposes," he said.

Noting that water can be a subject of emotional debate in the community, Houske said he'd like to see some happy medium between the positions of growth and no-growth.

"We do have a water issue," he said. "Somehow we need to resolve it before another drought."

The state water board decision was prompted by a complaint filed two years ago by Ted Heyck, a lawyer critical of the district who was elected to the district board in 2004.

The Arrowhead Lake Association, which joined Heyck in filing a complaint, announced in a news release Monday that it was pleased with the state water board's recognition of the association's right to keep the lake full for recreation.

"It's obviously our desire to serve our members' recreation needs by having the lake as full as possible," said John Rutledge, general manager for the association, which represents 9,000 homeowners.

He said the group has not taken a position supporting or opposing the water district's appeal.

"We hope for a solution that meets everybody's needs up here," Rutledge said.

Blakey said the district is having ongoing discussions with lake association officials over how they can maintain a lake level that will allow the lake to be used for recreation and by consumers.Lewis Murray, executive director of the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce, said he fears the state's decision will hurt the community's economy, which relies heavily on the development and real estate industries.

Providing the community with water entirely from other sources will prove expensive, Murray said.

"I am not a mathematician but common sense tells me our rates will go up astronomically," Murray said.

Bruce Jessel, owner of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factor in Lake Arrowhead Village, blamed board politics and Heyck in particular for bringing the community to this point.

Jessel said the problem was being addressed through the board's efforts to supplement its water by drilling wells and buying water from the Crestline-Lake Arrowhead Water Agency.

"This should have never come about," he said.

Staff writer Duane Gang contributed to this report.

-----

To see more of The Press-Enterprise, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.PE.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Press-Enterprise

More News in this Category