Waste-Water Plan for Bay Will Be Debated
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Two officials of Irvine Ranch Water District have agreed to debate a water-use expert and a member of a city-appointed committee on a plan to empty millions of gallons of recycled waste water daily into Upper Newport Bay.
Water district President Darryl Miller and Executive Director Ronald Young will defend the district’s proposal.
Nancy Skinner of the Newport Beach Harbor Quality Committee, which monitors the city’s water quality, and marketing consultant Phil Arst will state the case against the project, which they contend would damage the bay’s fragile ecosystem.
During winter months, the Irvine Ranch Water District has an excess of treated sewage. It pays the Orange County Sanitation District for its disposal.
Water district officials maintain that the district could save that money by filtering 5 million gallons of recycled waste water daily through 70 acres of duck ponds that would drain into a tributary of the bay.
On April 19, the state Water Quality Control Board will review a proposal for a two-year demonstration of the project.
The debate is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Cannery Restaurant, 3010 Lafayette Ave. Open to the public, the session is sponsored by the nonprofit group Speak Up Newport. Information: (714) 224-2266.
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