Council adopts 2025 Urban Water Management Plan and updates Emergency Operations Plan after Sandy Fire

The City Council adopted the Ventura County Waterworks District No. 8’s 2025 Urban Water Management Plan and accompanying Water Shortage Contingency Plan and later introduced an ordinance and adopted a resolution updating the city’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP).

Principal Engineer Mitchell Kada summarized the water plan: District 8 — serving about 68% of Simi Valley customers — reported adequate supplies for projected demand under typical conditions and the ability to meet short‑duration dry years; however, under a five‑year extended drought scenario the plan projects a potential 15% shortfall in year five that would require Level‑2 shortage actions. Kada said the district met the 2025 urban water‑use objective and coordinated its projections with wholesale suppliers.

Separately, Emergency Services Manager Eileen Connors presented a substantially revised Emergency Operations Plan that aligns city response roles and the Emergency Operations Center structure with state and FEMA standards. She used the May 18 Sandy Fire as a working example of proclamation, EOC activation and mutual‑aid processes, and outlined review deadlines: staff may proclaim a local emergency and the council must ratify proclamations within seven days and review any extension within 60 days.

Council members praised staff for their Sandy Fire response and unanimously adopted Resolution WWD‑307 (Urban Water Management Plan) and Resolution 2026‑10 adopting the updated EOP; the council also introduced Ordinance 1368 updating municipal code chapters related to emergency preparedness.