VILLA PARK : Water District Loses in Suit Over Lake

In a setback for the Serrano Irrigation District, an Orange County Superior Court commissioner has ruled that the Irvine Co. need not immediately analyze how its planned 7,500-acre development project in East Orange will affect the water quality of Irvine Lake.

In a lawsuit filed last year, the district demanded that before starting construction the Irvine Co. determine how much pollution the development would dump into the reservoir and how that water would be cleaned.

But according to district General Manager David Noyes, Commissioner Ronald Bauer ruled on Tuesday that, while the Irvine Co. must eventually perform the analysis, it is not necessary right away.

“We feel that if you put 12,400 homes with a hotel and a golf course on the shore of a lake, there’s going to be some contaminants going into the lake,” Noyes said. “And I don’t think that you need to wait four or five years to determine that. You can determine that right now.”

The report could determine whether a new $7-million water treatment plant would be required to remove the increased volume of pollutants, Noyes said. Officials of the water district, which serves Villa Park and parts of Orange, believe the Irvine Co. should pay for the plant if it must be built.

Irvine Co. spokeswoman Dawn McCormick said Wednesday that the developer was pleased by the ruling.

“It basically confirms what the city of Orange and the Irvine Co. contended all along, that the environmental impact report adequately addresses water quality issues,” she said. “To do water quality studies this far (in advance) would be based on a lot of speculation.”

The Irvine Co.’s environmental impact report, completed in 1989, says that oil, grease, fertilizers and pesticides are likely to pollute the lake as a result of development. However, Noyes said the report does not address how planners and the developer will deal with the pollutants.

Irvine Co. officials have said they want to cooperate with the water district but don’t believe that they are legally responsible for cleaning the water. The district board next meets on Aug. 8 and may decide to appeal the court’s decision, Noyes said.

“We’re not opposed to the project,” he added. “We’re just saying that the project is going to put contaminants into the lake, and we think it’s not fair that the customers in Villa Park will have to pay to take them out. Our main concern is that (the Irvine Co.) mitigates whatever damage they do to the lake.”