Plan to Pipe Polluted Aliso Creek Water Out to Sea Is Approved

SOUTH LAGUNA — Water officials say the crowds using Aliso Beach next summer will be swimming in cleaner waters after the approval this week of a plan to divert polluted runoff about a mile out to sea.

Under the project approved by the California Water Quality Control Board, drainage from Aliso Creek will no longer be deposited into the waters just off the popular South Laguna beach during summer months.

Aliso Creek stretches from Trabuco Canyon to the ocean, carrying drainage from homes, streets and open space in several communities along the way. The waste includes motor oil, pesticides and animal feces.

Run by the county and the Aliso Water Management Agency, the project, approved at the board meeting in San Diego on Wednesday, would entail building a sand berm in Aliso Creek to divert the water to a collection pool where it would be pumped about 6,700 feet offshore into the ocean.

A group of local residents called the plan short-sighted.

“We’re moving highly toxic water out into the ocean,” said Michael Beanan, vice president of the South Laguna Civic Assn. “This is not taking care of the problem, it’s just moving it out.”