More than $11 million in new federal funding is helping a south Orange County water district with two projects that should help keep some urban runoff from going into the ocean.
The Moulton Niguel Water District is getting $10.3 million to replace nearly two miles of sewer force mains in Laguna Niguel Regional Park, hopefully preventing breaks and failures that would lead to even more runoff flowing into Aliso Creek. Another grant will help the district launch a pilot program that would turn some of the runoff into a local supply of drinking water.
Both are funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
A $1.7 million grant will help seed the OASIS Water Resources Center, a concept the district is looking to pilot that would use filtration and disinfectants to convert the wastewater to drinking water.
If implemented, it could reduce the amount of runoff discharged into the ocean at Aliso Beach by as much as 5 million gallons daily, officials said.
The project would be the first of its kind in California and could be up and running in four to five years if Moulton Niguel can get agreement from the four water agencies that are now part of operating a treatment plant located in Laguna Niguel Regional Park, said Joone Kim-Lopez, general manager of Moulton Niguel Water District.
To do the project, the district would line and repurpose one of the existing pipelines to divert urban runoff from Aliso Creek for reuse.
“We want to reduce the amount of discharge into the ocean,” Kim-Lopez said, adding that 3 million to 5 million gallons a day are discharged from the treatment plant straight into the ocean. Most of that is water coming from yard over-irrigation.
Instead, the district would treat the captured runoff at the plant in the park and then add it to the water system, she said.
Kim-Lopez said the idea for the OASIS project to develop a local water supply came about a few years ago when the Moulton Niguel Water District, which serves customers in…
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