Watery Solution

A gentle breeze wafts across the azure water as ducks paddle through the reeds. In the distance, a lighthouse stands tall, a vigilant beacon to navigators.

The weathered clapboard charm of Cape Cod homes reflects an air of tranquillity in the harbor, where rowboats bob alongside a dock.

But this is a housing tract in the city of Santa Clarita, not a whaling village. The “sea” is a 15-acre artificial lake, and its function is more than scenic--it’s actually a “polishing pond” for a water filtration system designed to keep automotive oil, cigarette butts and other flotsam of urban life from polluting the Santa Clara River, which flows to the Pacific.

As a result of federal laws aimed at reducing pollution, such “filtration” lakes are being built around the nation. And the pace of lake development is expected to accelerate in Southern California this fall, when regional water quality officials will implement new runoff restrictions aimed at meeting the tougher federal standards.

The new lake in the Valencia subdivision called Bridgeport “might be the first one this large in a fairly arid environment” but won’t be the last, said John Kosco, an environmental engineer with the federal Environmental Protection Agency in Washington.

“There are economic benefits to runoff controls,” Kosco said, pointing to a study by the National Assn. of Home Builders that found buyers eagerly pay up to 28% more for a house or apartment next to a water feature, even those that are man-made.

“People have a strong emotional attachment to water, arising from its aesthetic qualities--tranquillity, coolness and beauty,” according to an EPA report published in 1995 urging developers to use ponds and wetlands “as marketing tools to set the tone for entire projects.”

Kosco said the report, which outlines a series of case studies from around the country, is designed “to help justify” the cost to developers of building facilities to minimize pollution from urban storm-water runoff while adding to the value of projects.

Thus, with regulations looming on the horizon, the lake at Bridgeport was born three years ago as the centerpiece of the development that eventually will encompass 800 homes on a 212-acre site on McBean Parkway north of the Valencia Town Center.

Development Features Nautical Theme

The project borders banks of the Santa Clara River--the last wild river in the region and a key source of water--as well as two of its tributaries, the San Francisquito and Bouquet Canyon creeks. Newhall Ranch Road serves as the northern boundary.

Valencia Co., a division of Newhall Land & Farming, is the master developer, and nine builders will construct the neighborhoods, each with a nautical theme.

Prices range from the high $100,000s for a condominium to more than $700,000 for the largest lakefront homes on “The Island,” a gated community accessible by elaborate stone-arched roadways built before the lake was filled.

Largely because of the costs of maintaining the lake/filtration plant, homeowner association fees for buyers of single family houses are expected to be about $130 a month, sales representatives said. Sales began this summer with the completion of the first model homes, and the rest of the models are expected to be open by the end of the year, said Marlee Lauffer, spokeswoman for Newhall Land. Homes in the first two phases at The Island, she said, sold out during opening weekend.

The project is the first in Santa Clarita to meet new rules adopted in January by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, a state agency charged with implementing the federal standards, said Laura H. Stotler, a Santa Clarita city planner.

The board’s action, which is widely opposed by developers, requires that all cities begin enforcing the rules by Oct. 8, said Xavier Swamikannu, regional agency director of the storm-water program. Cities that fail to force developers to meet the rules face potential fines for violations of the federal Clean Water Act and state water code, Swamikannu said.

The purpose of the rules is to require urban developers to contain the initial runoff of water during a storm within the development. The “first flush” of rainstorms contain high levels of pollutants washed off roofs, driveways, streets and lawns such as debris, trash, oils, fertilizers and pet waste that foul ocean waters. Runoff also contains human viruses and bacteria, rendering beaches unsafe for swimming.

All new development must now find ways to filter the runoff before it enters drainage channels. The standards apply to commercial projects of more than 100,000 square feet, parking lots with 25 or more spaces, gas stations, auto repair garages, restaurants over 5,000 square feet and subdivisions with at least 10 houses.

Solutions can range from building filters into curbside storm drains, directing runoff onto landscaped areas where it soaks back into the ground or constructing wetlands or ponds. Los Angeles County officials last year imposed the rules for development in unincorporated areas before the regional board’s action.

Some Developers Oppose Rules

Developers and many cities around Los Angeles contend that the rules impose financial burdens on new development but do nothing to correct the problem that stems from existing development.

“There has never been a beach closed because a house was built,” said Ray Pearl of Calabasas, spokesman for the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the California Building Industry Assn. “The real problem is the people who live here today.”

Pearl said the rules “are being imposed without any science to back them up. It’s kind of a solution in search of a problem.”

The group is challenging the new rules before the state water board.

Pearl applauded the Bridgeport lake project as “very unique for Southern California” but said he does not expect it to mark a trend for new development because of the cost of construction and maintenance. “We are not going to see lakes sprouting up all over the Santa Clarita Valley.”

Market demands, rather than federal laws, will determine whether similar projects are feasible, said Dean Wehrli, managing director of Meyers Group Consulting of Century City, experts on new housing developments. A lake “is an obvious way to deal with that new law, but developers are still going to have to cost it out,” Wehrli said.

Nevertheless, civil engineers and designers say the rules may encourage more developers to incorporate aesthetic water features in their projects, particularly in higher-end developments.

“The more astute developers are finding ways to enhance this drainage problem with ecological and aesthetic functions,” said Bob Gearhart, professor of environmental resources engineering at Humboldt State University.

“Rather than just drainage control, we could see multiple benefits,” Gearhart said. “That’s exciting to me.”

A variety of innovative ideas that are both attractive and cost-effective can be used to satisfy the rules, said Eric Strecker, a prominent Oregon-based civil and environmental engineer and fisheries biologist who frequently serves as a consultant to developers and cities in Southern California.

“Developers can create an ugly hole in the ground, or, if they’re smart about it, they can end up with a feature that gets water quality benefits that also looks aesthetically nice,” Strecker said.

As an example, he cited the design of a parking lot at the Portland Museum of Science and Industry that directs storm runoff onto required landscaped areas and saved $70,000 in construction costs.

“There’s a pretty strong community ethic to start changing the way we manage our resources,” Strecker said.

Extent of Water Supply Questioned

Robert Miller, a spokesman for the state water board, said other regional authorities are monitoring developments in Los Angeles and the success of Bridgeport.

“We don’t really know how widespread this kind of application will be,” Miller said. “It’s new. It’s unique. But whether other agencies or other developers are going to use it, that remains to be seen.”

Others criticize Bridgeport as another example of a waste of water in a region where developers for decades have built lakes as status symbols to promote their projects, including Toluca Lake, Lake Lindero and Westlake Village.

Valencia Co. and others are “overdrafting the Santa Clara River,” said Lynne Plamback, a board member of the Newhall County Water District and spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment.

She called the lake “a symbol of what is wrong with our sprawled development that is going on today. We’re pumping the river dry to sell their water feature. People like water features, but they create this false security that we have an infinite supply of water, and we don’t.”

SCOPE is among groups that joined Ventura County in a suit that forced Los Angeles County supervisors last week to rescind approval of the proposed 21,000-home Newhall Ranch project for further studies on water and other issues.

Lauffer, of Newhall Farm, counters the arguments, saying the lake requires no more water than what would be used to irrigate a grassy park, and less water than would be needed if homes were built in its place.

“The Santa Clarita Valley has very adequate water supplies to serve existing and future development,” she said.