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City and county officials told state water regulators Thursday that they are committed to reducing storm-water pollution and spending a reasonable amount of money to do it, but that some proposed regulations could be unnecessarily expensive.

The speakers urged the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board to have its staff work closely with local experts to devise "reasonable requirements" and deadlines as the board finalizes new regulations and approves a new storm-water permit for Ventura County.

The regulations for the first time in California would establish strict numerical limits on the quantity of pollutants allowed into lakes, rivers and the ocean and levy steep fines against those who don't comply.

"We are committed to working with you," said county Supervisor Kathy Long, one of nearly a dozen local officials who testified at an all-day workshop the regional water board held Thursday at Ventura City Hall.

The board took no action and is not scheduled to consider the regulations until March at the earliest.

Water regulators described the new rules as a way to hold government agencies accountable for not doing enough to control the pet waste, engine oil, pesticides and other trash that runs off into local waterways and ultimately the ocean. Pollution levels at local beaches show current practices are not working.

Urban storm runoff is among the last major sources of contamination to be regulated under the federal 1972 Clean Water Act, which initially focused on large, easily identifiable sources of pollution such as factories and sewage treatment plants.

Only recently have water-quality regulators begun grappling with how to control pollution from diffuse sources such as farm fields and storm drains. Because Ventura County's storm-water permit has expired and it needs a new one, it is the first in California to face the new regulations.

Local officials say regulations proposed in a draft permit could cost Ventura County communities from $60 million to $140 million a year.

Simi Valley Mayor Paul Miller said Thursday that the regulations would be "impossible" for his city to implement without robbing budgets for essential services such as emergency response, public works and law enforcement.

Environmentalists, however, countered that the persistence of pollution in Ventura County waters means more stringent measures are needed. David Beckman of the Natural Resources Defense Council argued that proposed pollution limits in the draft permit do not go far enough.

"Clearly we can do better," said Kirsten James of the Santa Monica-based environmental group Heal the Bay.

Local officials said they support clean water but a generic permit with stringent standards based on national statistics and developed for high-density Los Angeles and Orange counties would be less effective and unnecessarily costly for the distinct topography and agriculture-heavy landscape of Ventura County.

County Supervisor Linda Parks said the focus should be on reducing sources of pollution, not simply pouring millions into treating the effects. Parks said local policies such as banning plastic bags, reducing pesticide use at city and county parks and encouraging green-building could go a long way toward a solution without costing tens of millions of dollars.

The draft permit regulations would require increased monitoring of storm-drain outfalls and natural waterways.

Cities would have to install screens on storm-drain inlets in commercial and industrial areas, as well as near schools, to trap trash before it enters the system. Numerical limits would be set on the allowable amount of bacteria, heavy metals, nutrients and, in some areas, pesticides in local waters. Violations could cost cities fines of up to $27,500 a day.

Ventura City Manager Rick Cole told the regional water board that all the cities and the county were working together on the issue.

"You have a room full of people who are committed to doing much, much more," he said. "Give us a chance to work with your staff and we will come up with a better plan" for clean water.