Trabuco Canyon Water District Charges All Wet

* In the Trabuco Canyon Water District, the issue is an 8,700-square-foot operational control center. The water district needs this building to meet the staffing requirements of our growing district. Its location adjacent to the existing Robinson Ranch sewage treatment plant centralizes the district offices and maintenance facilities, which are now scattered around the Saddleback Valley. The district religiously complied with all state regulations and received county approval for the project. The district was ready to start project construction on land it already owns located one-third-mile distant from the nearest residence.

At the last minute, a small group of Trabuco Canyon residents claimed the attractively designed and fully landscaped operational control center would be an eyesore and opposed it by immediately filing a lawsuit and instituting a recall effort against members of the water district board of directors.

The leaders of the opposition are making accusations against the water district board and management that are misleading at best and, at worst, are absolutely false. They claim we didn’t provide proper notification. False. (We published, posted and also noticed adjacent landowners by mail. We held a public meeting, but no one attended.) They claim we doubled its size after environmental review. False. They claim the maintenance facility is too small and useless. False. (It has been designed for staging and storage.) They claim it will increase fire danger. False. (The project has the approval of the county Fire Department). They claim this is a “pristine” or “remote” canyon. False. (This area is surrounded by graded hillsides and an existing sewer plant.) And the list goes on.

Certainly some of the opponents are truly concerned, but the vocal core see this only as an opportunity to further their own political agendas and careers. One opposition leader has already stated he wants to get elected to the board so he can fire the district management and staff to ostensibly bring in his own people.

In the wake of all these allegations and accusations, the reputations of dedicated private citizens who serve on the board and in management are being unfairly and maliciously splattered with mud. But the opponents, especially the politically motivated ones, don’t care. They’re carving a political career out of the pocketbooks of the district residents. If it wasn’t the operational control center, it would be something else.

MATTHEW DISSTON

Director, Trabuco Canyon Water District