Engineering and Development

Letter of Intent to Serve

To process an application with the County of Santa Barbara Planning & Development Department or with the City of Carpinteria Community Development Department, applicants must obtain a letter of Intent to Serve from the District.  The Request for Letter of Intent to Serve Form linked below must be completed and submitted to the District.  After completing the fill-able PDF form, save or print it for your records. Mail the completed printed form to Carpinteria Valley Water District attention: Engineering at 1301 Santa Ynez Ave, Carpinteria, CA 93013, or email the completed PDF form to info@cvwd.net .

• Request for Letter of Intent to Serve Form

The Water Use Classification of Landscape Species for the Carpinteria area are available below in both PDF and Excel formats for your convenience. Click here for the entire WUCOLS database.

• WUCOLS for Carpinteria, Region 3 - PDF
• WUCOLS for Carpinteria, Region 3 - Excel

Letters of Intent to Serve issued by the District may include conditions which the applicant must meet to obtain water service and building or occupancy signoff. For example, an applicant’s Letter of Intent to Serve may include payment of water supply impact fees as a condition of water service, provision of fire sprinkler calculations, or flowing of a fire hydrant.

Water Supply Impact Fees

Development and redevelopment projects which intensify the water use of a parcel may be required to pay a one-time water supply impact fee to offset their impact on the District’s water supply. Learn more about the motivation for the fee by watching the District's Board of Directors meeting from January 22, 2025, (agenda item starts at 1:46:34) and reviewing the accompanying PowerPoint.

The District calculates water use intensification for two type of projects.

1. Projects that are both adding meters to a parcel and changing the land use of the parcel are subject to the intensification calculation.
   • Changing the land use of a parcel means demolishing existing buildings, increasing the overall floor area, or exceeding the maximum density of the existing zoning designation.
2. Projects that are both adding meters to a parcel, and subdividing a parcel or creating condominiums, are subject to the intensification calculation.

Exempt projects

Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and junior accessory dwelling units (JADUs) are exempt from the intensification calculation as long as the proposed modifications comply with the City of Carpinteria and County of Santa Barbara’s residential density rules. Residences on agricultural parcels are exempt within the limits of the City of Carpinteria and County of Santa Barbara’s zoning codes.

Calculation method

Total Fee ($) = Water use intensification (AF) x Impact fee ($/AF)

Water use intensification (AF)
=Water use of proposed project (AF)-Existing allocation (AF)

Water use of proposed project

Projects which qualify for the intensification calculation must submit a water demand estimate. Applicants are encouraged to submit their water demand calculation using the Request for Letter of Intent to Serve Form linked above. This form uses industry best practices (i.e., the City of Santa Barbara’s water demand factors to calculate indoor water use and the MWELO method to calculate outdoor water use). Alternatively, applicants may submit their water demand calculation separately from the Request for Letter of Intent to Serve Form.

Existing allocation

Parcels within the District’s service area with at least one District water meter have an existing allocation. The existing allocation of a proposed project is the aggregate allocation of all existing meters associated with the project. See the District’s Allocation Program for details on the allocation calculation methods.

Impact fee

The District is currently developing its impact fee methodology. To understand the expected magnitude of the impact fee, applicants should reference neighboring programs. For example, Goleta Water District’s New Water Supply Charge is $62,553/AF effective November 14, 2023. Ventura Water’s Net Zero Fee is $22,806/AF as of July 19, 2021.