Water

City Council candidate Emanuel Patrascu e-blasted council members for medical coverage they receive as directors of the Laguna Beach County Water District — coverage he would have to accept if elected or be responsible for a significant increase in the district's insurance rate. "Our insurance has an incentive plan and we get a good rate as long as no one opts out," district General Manager Renae Hinchey said. "If someone does opt out the rate would go up 4%. " Patrascu published an e-mail on Sept.

Turning on the tap in parts of Laguna Beach will cost a little more starting in July. The City Council, sitting Tuesday afternoon as the Laguna Beach County Water District Board, voted to increase the rates for water use by .03%. The district supplies water to the city north of Nyes Place and also to Emerald Bay. The rate increase would not have been imposed if 51% of the owners of parcels subject to the proposed change had submitted a written protest to the board at or before the meeting, as mandated by state Proposition 218. "Forty-two letters of protest were submitted, mostly from people on fixed incomes," District General Manager Renae Hinchey said.

El Niño was a bad, bad boy this year. He played some really nasty tricks on Laguna in the final weeks of 2010 — and it sure brought back memories of the 1998 mudslides. Charlie and Ann Quilter were back in the news, but it was on a happier note — the Laguna Canyon home they built to replace the one destroyed in '98 was still standing after the Dec. 22 mudslides slithered around their home instead of through it — and Annie got through this storm with her clothes still on her back.

The Laguna Beach County Water District call for conservation has fizzled. “We are still over our allotment,” Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Person announced at the Nov. 3 council meeting. The council, which sits as the district board of directors, was advised of customers’ failure to reduce water usage, as requested, due to a reduced allocation by the district’s water supplier. According to a recent issue of the Waves, the district’s publication sent to customers, water usage not only had not met the requested 15% reduction, it increased by 10% in July over the same period last year, perhaps due to the weather.

A State Water Resources Control Board decision is being hailed as a victory by champions of Southern California steelhead trout and other opponents of a proposed diversion of Aliso Creek runoff, but they may be celebrating too soon. South Coast Water District officials, who proposed the diversion, are waiting to hear if a correction to their application to divert water for irrigation will persuade the State Water Resources Control Board to reconsider the limit imposed in a permit issued Feb. 24. The district meant to request a permit to divert 890 acre-feet of water per year from the creek to irrigate 310 acres, not the 30 acres that appeared on the application, resulting in a reduction of 88 acre-feet per year.

Water supplies are drying up, and the Laguna Beach County Water District has floated a plan to keep city taps flowing without waste — or pay the price. A handful of residents responded to a district invitation to attend a hearing Tuesday on a proposed ordinance that will affect every customer in Laguna — providing for conservation that ranges from voluntary reductions in water use to three levels of mandatory rationing and enforcement. “The goal is to optimize efficiency even when there is no water shortage,” Assistant General Manager Christopher Regan said.

The Laguna Beach County Water District is holding a SmartScape Info/Expo from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at its headquarters, 306 Third St., Laguna Beach. The free event promotes the benefits of using California native plants and efficient irrigation techniques in residential and commercial landscape settings. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet with landscape and irrigation professionals, attend hands-on demonstrations and free workshops, and meet representatives from local companies exhibiting the latest water efficient landscape products.

Laguna Beach High School’s award-winning ocean water testing program is floundering, after the Surfrider Foundation suddenly pulled the plug on funding. The program, in which samples of ocean water are methodically collected and tested for bacteria every week, has been the main activity of the school’s Surfrider Club for eight years. In 2006, the club was honored by the Environmental Protection Agency with an environmental achievement award for helping to promote water quality awareness.

Aliso Creek could benefit from a new effort to improve the quality of reclaimed water and find new users for the product. Customers of South Coast Water District's recycled water are drying up — including golf courses. City officials voted 4-0 on Tuesday to support a proposed project to harvest polluted water from Aliso Creek, filter out the salt and mix with it the district's recycled water to produce a less salty product that should satisfy customers. "Aliso Creek Golf Course is using drinking water because of the high salt content of the district's recycled water, and another one in Dana Point is going to quit using it," said City Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman, who sponsored the agenda item.

South Coast Water District will float $37.12 million in AA+-rated water and wastewater bonds to refinance debts and pay for some major projects. The district has identified an estimated $75 million in needed major improvements within the next five years, part of which will be paid by proceeds from the bonds, the rest funded by working capital — cash on hand, sometimes called pay-go, and reserves. "Use of long-term debt is appropriate as capital improvements benefit not only current customers but also future residents and businesses in the district's service area," said Wayne Rayfield, board president.