LAGUNA BEACH : Aliso Creek Runoff May Be Piped Far Out to Sea

Meeting the day after a report was issued showing a big increase in Orange County beach closings due to pollution, a task force decided Thursday to explore protecting swimmers during summer months by diverting the waters of Aliso Creek into a pipe leading far out to sea.

“There seems to be some momentum going to start a project soon,” said County Supervisor Marian Bergeson, chairwoman of the Aliso Creek Coordinating Committee, an informal coalition of officials representing various water districts, county agencies and environmental groups.

The 12-mile creek, which starts near Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon and meanders southwest to the popular Aliso Beach, carries an increasing number of sewage spills and urban runoff that has reached the sea, forcing frequent beach closures.

“We have to have a foolproof plan,” Bergeson said Thursday. “We don’t need any more studies.”

Under the plan, fouled water would be diverted from May through October each year into an existing pipe operated by the Aliso Water Management Agency near the creek’s mouth.

The pipe would carry the water two miles out to sea to be discharged at a depth of about 200 feet.

William P. Becker, general manager of the water agency, estimated the effort would cost $500,000 initially for the design and construction of tanks, pumps and piping to divert the water, plus about $80,000 annually to operate the system.

Becker said he will meet next week with Tom Mathews, director of planning for the county’s Environmental Management Agency, to discuss the project’s potential funding sources, which could include a grant from the state.

After final approval, he said, the system could take up to nine months to construct.

In 1994, according to the report released earlier this week by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Aliso Beach was closed a total of 15 days due to raw sewage overflows containing bacteria harmful to swimmers.