A Positive Step for Aliso Creek

The lessons of the past few years have come home to coastal Orange County in recent weeks through money and enforcement. Our shoreline is in jeopardy, and both are needed to preserve the ocean resource for future generations. Upstream at the source of water pollution, the stick has replaced the carrot. At the Hall of Administration, the power of the purse is being mobilized to help five coastal cities and a county agency divert urban runoff.

The recent state order requiring the cleanup of the polluted Aliso Creek represents a fresh departure for state enforcement efforts. The order from the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board to Orange County, Laguna Niguel and the county’s flood control district to stop storm drain runoff is a way to hold polluters accountable.

What’s been obvious in the past is that general appeals have not worked. The order calls on the government to clean up high levels of bacteria and holds out the possibility of lawsuits and fines of up to $5,000 a day if deadlines are ignored or if insufficient progress is made.

The channel near the Kite Hill neighborhood of Laguna Niguel has been responsible for sending 130,000 gallons of urban runoff a day into the creek. The creek drains more than 34 square miles of the county’s most polluted waterways. The possibility of rendering the waters nearby unusable has been real.

This winter has yet to bring the customary seasonal rains. They have a damaging effect on area beaches, where pollution counts can climb. In the past, dramatic pollution incidents have captivated our attention at other times of the year. But in Huntington Beach last year, even without rain, beach closings became a summer phenomenon. Now the long-term damage caused by aging infrastructure, fertilizer from lawns, pesticides and other waste is being seen.

The Board of Supervisors last week properly recognized the threat and authorized more than $460,000 to help various cities and its own Harbors, Beaches and Parks Division to address specific pollution problems.

These new efforts in the funding and enforcement areas are a welcome sign that the long-standing problem of ocean pollution is getting needed attention. The days of assuming pollution will disperse quickly are over.