NEWPORT BEACH : Newport Bay Proposal Is Met With Opposition

The city’s Harbor Quality Committee has rejected a plan to empty reclaimed waste water into Upper Newport Bay.

The unanimous vote opposing Irvine Ranch Water District’s proposal means that the City Council probably will vote the same way. It assigned the committee to survey the project and make a recommendation, said Councilwoman Jean Watt, chairwoman of the seven-member panel. The issue will go to the City Council on Nov. 13.

“This tells the [water district] that none of us feel that we are convinced that this project will benefit the city,” Watt said.

Though the proposal does not require city approval, water district officials had been seeking support before certifying an environmental impact report that will go to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, which has the final word on the project.

The water district proposes to empty 5 million gallons of reclaimed water a day into the Upper Bay during non-summer months. Some experts say that the project would benefit the ecology of the bay and its tributaries.

But critics, including real estate agents and property owners, counter that even a negative perception of the project would be harmful to Newport Beach.