LAGUNA BEACH : Water District Names General Manager

Mike Dunbar has been named general manager of the South Coast Water District, replacing Ray Miller.

Dunbar, 43, was hired in 1987 to be the eventual replacement for Miller, who retired July 1 to start a consulting firm after running the district for more than 20 years.

“It’s given me the opportunity to take a nice, gradual approach” to transition into the job, Dunbar said. “Dealing with the political process (with the state government in Sacramento) takes a while to learn.”

The South Coast Water District sells water to about 6,500 customers in South Laguna Beach and parts of Dana Point and Laguna Niguel. The district is also responsible for sewage collection and treatment.

Dunbar said he will continue the district’s emphasis on using reclaimed water. About 25% of all water used by district customers last year was recycled. By comparison, only about 10% of the water sold by the Metropolitan Water District, the Southland’s major supplier, was reclaimed water.

But, added Dunbar, “I have my own ideas that I want to get into place.”

One of major projects facing the district is the repair of Aliso Creek. The tributary winds through South County into the Pacific Ocean in South Laguna.

Once a calm, scenic waterway, runoff from housing developments and other sources has seriously eroded the creek banks. The result was felt this past spring, when storms turned the once mild creek into a raging torrent that flooded the Aliso Creek Golf Course and forced its closure until July.

Dunbar says he will meet with county officials and landowners along the length of the creek to discuss ways of repairing the damaged waterway.

“It’ll never be a white-water rapid or have Yellowstone Park kind of beauty,” he said. “But we will bring it back to be a viable water course for people to take pride in.”