SOUNDING OFF: Sustainable solutions exist for creek

The Laguna Beach City Council vote and commitment to find a greener, ecological alternative to the SUPER project for Aliso Creek is the right action. A multifaceted approach to directly reduce storm water flows into Aliso Creek by installing cisterns and modernizing the sewage treatment plant would better protect our priceless creek and coastal resources. We need our council to work diligently with the county and inland cities to accomplish critically needed and long overdue “green” solutions to creek and ocean pollution.

The SUPER Project, as the acronym indicates, is intended primarily to rebury the SOCWA sewage ocean outfall pipe and use our public wildlife park as a flood control channel device. It will do nothing to diminish the doubling of storm water flows and dry weather urban runoff into the creek eventually polluting the ocean. The project will not solve the issues of greatest concern to the public.

The existing sludge force main (conveys sludge/biosolids from the Coastal Treatment Plant to the Laguna Niguel Regional Plant) is on the east side of the creek within the open space. Over the years, the creek has meandered along its path and exposed the sludge force main in several locations. SOCWA has been working with the county to relocate the sludge force main to the west side of the creek adjacent and behind the existing SOCWA Access Road. Phases 1 and 3 of the sludge force main have been constructed. Phase 2 is the missing piece. In addition, the Effluent Transmission Main is located on the east side of the creek. It is adjacent to the existing sludge force main.

The county’s February 2006 “Aliso Creek Concept Report” recognizes “the increased flows are the result of (inland) development adding impervious areas to the watershed, reducing the infiltration capacity in other locations, and increasing the speed at which runoff is concentrated and conveyed through the watershed.” The report estimates storm water flows at more than 30 million gallons per hour.

The doubling of storm water flows into Aliso Creek over the last 20 years represents a violation of residential development conditions of approval for the cities of Laguna Niguel and Aliso Viejo. The cumulative result is storm water runoff transporting contaminated flows directly into the creek at such high rates that massive erosion undermines the buried utility lines.

The SUPER Project plan to install 26 grade control structures requiring at least a 10-foot deep soil cement structure spanning the creek well beyond the present creek width with stone cement protection along both sides of the bank. The proposed amount of concrete is unclear but appears to be enormous and requires bulldozing the entire reach of the creek. Although the concrete dams may slow the runoff, the pollutants and debris that create enormous brown ocean plumes and toxic algae blooms will be unaffected. At a minimum, alternatives to this and other impacts should be reviewed in light of a higher ecological standard.

One alternative strategy could include the inland use of large-scale cisterns consistent with popular Low Impact Development (LID) campaigns by NRDC, Surfrider, Coastkeeper, the Irvine Co. and others. www.nrdc.org/water/pollution /storm/chap12.asp). Cisterns are utilized by the Irvine Co. at Pelican Hills to prevent runoff from reaching the ocean. The project demonstrates the feasibility of capturing and recycling all runoff during the long dry season typical of south Orange County.

Another alternative leading to less sewage would be to modernize our sewage treatment plants. Presently, the Orange County Sanitation District recycles 70 million gallons of sewage daily for groundwater replenishment and produces enough methane gas to generate 11,000 kilowatts to power a city the size of Brea. The entire treatment facility is powered by this “natural gas” saving OCSD $6 million annually. Modernizing the inland sewage treatment plant in Laguna Niguel can eliminate the need to armor Aliso Creek with concrete. It would also reduce the volume of toxic sewage discharge into the ocean. The South Laguna Civic Assn. suggested this alternative in 1972 when the proposal to bury the sewer pipe alongside Aliso Creek was first discussed. SLCA advocated sending the sewage to the San Juan Creek outfall 5 miles offshore of Doheny Beach rather than a short 1.2 miles from Aliso Beach.

The Marine Life Protection Act process has revealed the Laguna coastline to be among the highest in habitat value in Southern California due to our rocky coves, historically rich in fish and sea life. Our once robust kelp forests are the underwater ecological equivalent of a redwood forest or Amazon rain forest and deserve our strongest protection. We cannot protect the ocean by poisoning it with our wastewater and urban runoff.

SHARON LARIMER lives in Laguna Beach.