OK Likely for $500,000 Study of Newport Bay Watershed

The county is poised to join the state Water Resources Board and the Coastal Commission for a two-year, $500,000 study of the Newport Bay watershed.

County supervisors are expected to approve the second of two grants today, with most of the money coming from the state water board. About a third of the funds will come from the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agencies because the proposed Eastern tollway will be built near San Diego Creek in Tustin, close to the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The grants are provided through the federal Clean Water Act.

Upper Newport Bay and its watershed are listed as impaired because of nutrients, sediment, toxins and bacteria, said Chris Crompton, manager of environmental resources for the county. The state study will better map the 150-square-mile watershed and track the effects of development and runoff.

“This is an attempt to find some solutions for the long-term problems of the watershed,” Crompton said.

The first grant, approved earlier this month, was for about $50,000, with most of the money coming from the Coastal Commission. The grant expected to be approved today is for $137,000, which will be used for evaluating the impact of toxic materials on the watershed and for a series of public hearings.

A third grant for $319,000 will be used to buy one or two additional booms used to capture trash and debris along San Diego Creek before it feeds into Upper Newport Bay, Crompton said.

A separate project to dredge built-up sediment and silt from the bay received partial funding earlier this month. The state budget signed by Gov. Pete Wilson includes $2 million for the $4.9-million dredging project.