Bill That Bars Waste Water in Bay Advances

An Assembly bill that would thwart Irvine Ranch Water District’s controversial plan to discharge recycled water into Upper Newport Bay, an ecological reserve, cleared its first legislative hurdle Tuesday in Sacramento.

“This is important for the city and for me to get this bill through,” said Assemblywoman Marilyn C. Brewer (R-Newport Beach).

Brewer said she introduced the bill in February after receiving 2,400 letters protesting the water district’s Wetlands Water Supply project, which would filter 5 million gallons of waste water daily through duck ponds that would then empty into a tributary of Newport Bay.

The regional Water Quality Control Board is scheduled April 19 to review a proposal for a two-year demonstration of the project.

Assembly Bill 3344, passed Tuesday by the 12-member Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife, would prohibit discharging reclaimed water into any of the state’s four ecological reserves, or into any of their tributaries at any point within five miles of a reserve.

The bill, set to go before the Appropriations Committee on May 28, would make violation of the law a misdemeanor.

Newport Beach resident Bob Caustin, who formed a group called Defend the Bay to oppose the water district’s proposal, and Newport Beach Mayor John W. Hedges went to Sacramento to speak in favor of the bill. The City Council has unanimously opposed the water plan.

Irvine Ranch Water District officials said Tuesday that the committee vote is not a defeat.

“What is important to us is the opportunities that the bill presents to us,” said Ron Young, president of the water district.