Board OKs Plan to Divert Polluted Aliso Creek Runoff Further Offshore

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.

“This is a way to address the concerns of the Surfriders [Foundation] and residents of Laguna Beach and divert some of the water that comes down the creek during summer months,” said Mike Dunbar, general manager of the South Coast Water District.

Aliso Creek stretches from Trabuco Canyon to the ocean, carrying polluted 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.

The Aliso Water Management Agency is a joint-powers group composed of several water districts and the city of Laguna Beach that oversees sewage issues.

A group of residents criticized the plan, saying it was shortsighted.

“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.”

The diversion project is considered a temporary measure until a permanent solution can be devised.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is researching how to clean up Aliso and San Juan creeks. That study is not expected for about five years, Dunbar said.

Because most of the drainage flowing in Aliso Creek comes from communities such as Laguna Niguel, Beanan said housing development agreements should provide a more permanent solution.

One alternative could be an inland collection pool where contaminated water could be treated, Beanan said.