Plan to Release Waste Water Into Bay Scaled Back

Seeking to end a long-running battle over plans to release highly treated waste water into Upper Newport Bay, the Irvine Ranch Water District has come up with a plan it says would put dramatically less water into the bay.

But a lawyer for the environmental group that has been fighting the district’s plans said a judge’s order bars any waste water at all.

“The bottom line is, we don’t think reclaimed water belongs in the bay,” said Mark Wolfe, the attorney for Defend the Bay. “The judge agreed.”

Ken Thompson, the district’s director of water quality, disputed Wolfe’s interpretation and said the judge’s October ruling only stopped the original plan to send as much as 900 million gallons a year of highly treated sewage into the bay.

Although Thompson believes the district could successfully appeal the ruling, it has decided to offer a modified plan that would send less waste water into the bay. The new plan also is more flexible, adjusting the flow depending on rainfall.

In a wet year like 1998, the district could send 100 million gallons of the treated water into the bay. In a dry year, like the current one, no water would be sent.

The water district presented its plan Wednesday to three Newport Beach council members and city officials. The city opposed the previous plan.

Councilwoman Janice A. Debay said it was too early to make a decision on the new plan. “There are a lot of facts I still need some clarification on,” she said.

Defend the Bay has been fighting for more than four years to prevent the district from flushing waste into the bay. The district has said the project would cut the nitrogen flowing into the bay, but the environmental group has said the waste water would include dangerous levels of metals and organic materials and disrupt the fragile ecology of the salt marsh.

Thompson said the plan was changed both in response to the court decision and because the district has gained more knowledge. Joyce Wegner-Gwidt, the district’s director of community relations, said another reason for the new plan is that many people still believe reclaimed water is no different than raw sewage.

Although not intended for drinking, reclaimed water is treated to make it safe for irrigation and industrial uses.

Like the previous proposal, the new plan also is designed to benefit the 250-acre San Joaquin marsh, which is open to the public for hiking.

Edwards said if the plan doesn’t go through, there will be pressure to develop the area.