NEWPORT BEACH

The San Joaquin reservoir, with its murky past of being overrun by wormlike larvae and African clawed frogs, might finally have a clear future storing reclaimed water.

The idea is being promoted by the Irvine Ranch Water District, which wants to buy out the other six owners of the reservoir. So far, the water districts Mesa Consolidated, South st, Laguna Beach County and Metropolitan District of Southern California, as well as the Huntington Beach Water Department--have agreed to sell their share and move forward with the plans.

Newport Beach, which owns 1.2% of the reservoir, is the one holdout, said Dave Kiff, deputy city manager. Kiff said the City Council members have said they will not sell unless water district officials agree to try to avoid discharge from the reservoir into the bay.

Although the treated waste water is “pretty clean,” Kiff said, the city wants to limit the times that the reservoir can discharge into the environmentally sensitive waters. This week he plans to list what situations would be acceptable.

From 1985 to the early ‘90s, the empty, 1-billion-gallon reservoir was host to bugs and small animals that had to be scooped out regularly, much to the chagrin of residents who drank the water. During that time, the reservoir that supplied water to 400,000 residents from Dana Point to Huntington Beach was closed 22 times because of contamination.

Since then, the Irvine Ranch Water District began studying the nearly 50-year-old drained reservoir and decided that it might be more useful for reclaimed water storage.