County Suit Over Damage to Irvine Regional Park Settled

The county announced a settlement Tuesday in a lawsuit it filed against a water district accused of damaging a county park and destroying sensitive wetlands as part of an illegal mining operation.

County Counsel Laurence M. Watson declined to discuss the settlement, reached during a closed meeting, saying details are still being worked out.

The lawsuit stemmed from an excavation behind the Villa Park Dam that a contractor carried out for the Serrano Irrigation District from 1985 to 1991. During this period, the district bulldozed several acres of Irvine Regional Park and damaged a wetlands that was home to a rare California songbird.

In 1994, the general manager of the water district pleaded guilty to illegally excavating the area and was fined $2,500. A U.S. magistrate ordered the contractor used by the water district to pay $25,000.

The county filed a civil suit against the district, seeking $2 million that officials said was needed to restore damaged parkland.

Officials at the Serrano district have acknowledged that they accidentally bulldozed portions of Irvine Regional Park but insist they broke no laws. They could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Prosecutors, however, maintained in 1994 that the district and contractor violated their federal digging permits and sold the excavated material for a profit.