NEWPORT BEACH : Water District Again Delays Action on Treated Sewage Plan
For the second time in as many weeks, the Irvine Ranch Water District board of directors has postponed voting on whether to certify an environmental impact report for a proposal to empty 5 million gallons of reclaimed waste water daily into the Upper Bay.
District officials decided Monday to delay a vote until November, hoping that by that time they would be able to demonstrate how Newport Beach would benefit from the water project.
The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, the governmental body that has final word on the proposal, also has rescheduled its permit hearing from Dec. 1 to sometime in January.
Local environmentalists contend the project would damage the bay’s ecosystem by releasing added nutrients into the water, which would increase summertime algae. Other critics say the plan raises health concerns.
District scientists deny both contentions and say that discharging the water into the bay actually would decrease summer algae.
On Monday, the city hired a consultant to study the potential effect the district’s Wetlands Water Supply Project will have on the bay.
The project, the water district says, would save the district up to $30 million a year while supplying the migratory waterfowl ponds of the San Joaquin Marsh with reclaimed water during non-summer months.
In August, city officials endorsed the project on the condition that it would not harm the bay and would benefit the city.
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