WATER WORKS-From left, Randy Watkins, Leisure Village general manager, Carol Sweeney-Zimmet, board president of Leisure Village, Al Fox, Camrosa board president, and Richard Hajas, Camrosa's general manager, stand in front of the retirement community's golf course, which now uses reclaimed water brought into Leisure Village by the first phase of a plan that will eventually allow the community to water its landscape more economically. With the rising cost of water throughout Southern California, large-volume users across Ventura County are looking for ways to help cool off high utility bills.

Camarillo's Leisure Village, in partnership with Camrosa Water District, will probably cut its water bill by more than half thanks to a brand new reclaimed water pipeline that'll eventually help the village save nearly 18 million gallons of drinking water a year.

Leisure Village's General Manager Randy Watkins said that although he doesn't know exactly how much the new pipeline will save the community's residents each year, it's likely to be thousands of dollars.

Camrosa and Leisure Village officials announced the new pipeline-which has been running for about a month-during a press conference at the community's golf course on Mon., Aug. 14.

The $300,000 pipeline, the first part of a two-phase plan to plumb the entire retirement village with lines for reclaimed water, feeds off the Conejo Creek Project, an enormous pipeline that pulls reclaimed water from Calleguas Creek near California State University at Channel Islands and sends it nearly eight miles north into the Santa Rosa Valley to help irrigate the area's farmland and surrounding communities.

Richard Hajas, Camrosa's general manager, said his district has been working with Leisure Village-their largest single customer-for about two years to help the retirement community take advantage of the district's reclaimed water pipeline and cut water costs.

Hajas said the deal is "good for everybody." It benefits Camrosa's customers two ways, he said.

First, it cuts by about 70 percent the amount of drinking water Leisure Village will be using, Hajas said. According to Camrosa officials, the retirement community uses about 700,000 gallons of drinking water per day, with about 500,000 gallons used to irrigate the 356acre retirement community's landscape, as well as its golf course.

And because Leisure Village will use so much less drinking water, it helps ensure that Camrosa won't reach the next tier of a pricing structure set by Calleguas Municipal Water District, from which Camrosa imports water. If the district stays below its

pricing tier, it won't be forced to pass the cost on to its 10,000 customers.

The second phase of the reclaimed water program in Leisure Village will extend the waterline northward from the south side of the retirement community toward Upland and Santa Rosa roads.

The project will take two to three years to complete.

-Daniel Wolowicz