Goleta Sanitary District is an independent local public agency, formed by a vote of the people to provide sanitary services to the Goleta Valley.

The District is governed by an elected five-member Board of Directors. They are ordinary citizens who serve by representing their neighbors. Since they are lay people, they hire trained professional to manage the District. This is a good way to balance lay people and professionals, working together for the benefit of the community.

The simple structure of your Sanitary District represents the essence of local government. The twice-monthly meetings of the Board of Directors are all held within the District and are open to the public. This format permits ordinary citizens to speak directly to their elected Directors about questions or concerns. The District is thus directly responsive to the needs of our community.

Goleta Sanitary District is a good neighbor to many other governmental agencies serving the community. It cooperates closely with them in carrying out its activities.

Four public agencies directly participate with the District by owning capacity rights - that is, rights to a fixed percentage of the treatment and outfall operations. The Agencies are University of California - Santa Barbara, Goleta West Sanitary District, City of Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, and certain facilities of Santa Barbara County.

While the District actually owns the facility, the participating agencies contribute their proportionate share of all treatment plant costs.