Water Works

In a city that lived through the scorching nightmares of the 1993 fires, when large portions of the town were evacuated from the path of flames advancing over the San Joaquin Hills, Laguna Beach officials are within sight of their goal of declaring that it won’t happen again.

But, in an age-old standoff, the city is again seeking a way to balance competing goals: modernizing to improve public safety versus preserving the serenity and isolation residents have come to expect.

Recalling how, in 20 harrowing hours, six of the city’s 22 reservoirs ran dry and more than 400 dwellings burned in 1993, local water district officials added one new underground reservoir and are proposing a second.

When complete, the two reservoirs together would triple the city’s water storage capacity at higher elevations, all but erasing future firefighting deficiencies, said James Nestor, assistant general manger of the Laguna Beach County Water District.

The last tank took six years from planning to completion, winning approval only after the fire. And the newest tank, called the North Reservoir, will be among the largest in the city.

Some fear the emotionally charged drive for more water, fueled by the vivid memory of the firestorm, is eclipsing concern for people who live near the site in north Laguna Beach.

“We can’t argue with the desirability of having additional capacity up there,” said Louis Garfin of the community group Laguna North Neighborhood Assn. “But there are some serious concerns.”

Among them: future landslides, water runoff, noise and dust pollution and a springboard to future development on the land proposed for the underground tank, which is owned by the Irvine Co. and is part of its ambitious Newport Coast project, just beyond the boundaries of Laguna Beach.

“This doesn’t seem to be the most appropriate approach for a water tank--it seems to be the beginning of the Irvine Co.’s development project,” said Lawrence Ring, a Laguna North member and former city firefighter.

The reservoir would cost $8 million and would hold 5 million gallons of water--as much as 50 times larger than the smallest tank in the city and as large as the Laguna Beach County Water District’s two biggest vessels.

It would be made of concrete and be buried beneath the knoll of a hill rising 600 feet above the north Laguna neighborhood, said Nestor of the water district.

Dry Hydrants

In the Laguna Beach firestorm in October 1993, firefighters scrambled from hydrant to hydrant in a desperate search for water to fight the wind-driven flames as the local water district tried to manipulate the network of pumps and reservoirs to get water where it was needed.

“This one got away from everybody,” Nestor said. “I never want to live through that again.”

At the time, city officials were debating the request by the water district, an autonomous agency, for access to city land for a reservoir to hold 3 million gallons of water in the Top of the World neighborhood.

The project was opposed by local residents and some City Council members on the basis of aesthetics and preserving city-owned open space from development.

After the fires, city officials quickly arrived at a compromise to get the tank built, under pressure from residents who questioned whether the tank would have allowed some houses to be spared had it been in place. Although the system never ran dry, officials had difficulty moving water to where firefighters needed it.

Last year, a water district master plan used a firestorm analysis to determine future needs. Although the water system, with the new Top of the World tank, had 23 reservoirs varying in size from 100,000 gallons to 5 million, the analysis pointed to the need for more capacity in the upper elevations of north Laguna.

The Laguna district covers only 8.6 square miles, but is considered tricky because elevations go from sea level to 1,000 feet.

The district commissioned a study by an Irvine environmental firm, the Chambers Group, which analyzed the proposed new tank on a 600-foot-high ridge above streets in North Laguna with panoramic ocean views to see if a full environmental impact review was needed.

On a list of 78 environmental areas studied, the report last month found potential problems in 22, but said none was serious enough to warrant the more lengthy environmental impact review.

Potential problems of reservoir construction found by the report include possible landslides, water runoff, air pollution, noise pollution, possible disruption of archeological sites common to the vicinity and a threat to California gnatcatchers, a threatened bird species, as well as other wildlife.

If the water district decides against a full environmental review, construction could start this fall. The district board could be faced with a decision on the question of the reservoir study Tuesday.

An additional review also may be required by the California Coastal Commission, depending on whether the reservoir site is within commission guidelines that give that agency oversight responsibility for projects within 1,000 yards of the coast. Depending on how the distance is measured, the reservoir could come under commission regulations, Nestor said.

In 1993, Louis Garfin and his wife, Clarice, watched as flames came across the hills, toward their house, then veered north toward Emerald Bay, where dozens of houses were burned.

While they said they would stand aside for construction of a new storage reservoir, they and scores of residents are concerned about the impact of the 12-month construction period and said the environmental report completed last month is inadequate.

They asked Laguna Beach officials to step in to ensure the plans by the water district, an autonomous agency, don’t violate local laws.

They received a letter from Mayor Steve Dicterow promising to enforce local laws, but noting the proposed Irvine Co. project is outside city limits.

Dicterow this week said he favors construction of the reservoir.

“It’s hard to argue, when you live in a desert and they tell you you need water, that you don’t,” Dicterow said. “It makes sense to have the additional capacity.”

As a former firefighter who was summoned to fight the 1993 firestorm, Ring said he would be the last one to stand in the way of a new reservoir. Yet, the water district seems to be shaping its plans at least in part to the future needs of the Irvine Co., which has building plans for two parcels near the new reservoir for a total of 25 houses.

As an example, the plans call for a new access road to the hilltop reservoir, when a fire road already exists. The new road would better serve future development, he said.

Ring and the Garfins also noted that plans call for work to be done between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. six days a week. Laguna laws limit work from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. five days a week.

“We’ve been disappointed that the city has not been more aggressive in protecting the residents of the community,” Clarice Garfin said.

New Construction

Paul Kranhold, a spokesman for the Irvine Co., said an overall plan approved by Orange County would allow construction of 28 houses on two parcels in the unincorporated area.

While the new reservoir would serve those houses, construction is not tied to the water supply and there are no plans to begin building soon, Kranhold said. He said several more regulatory steps would need approval.

When Irvine Co. crews worked last year on grading and thinning out brush, residents said it resulted in rivers of runoff through the streets of North Laguna. At resident Ilse Lenschow’s house on San Joaquin Street, runoff washed out part of the ground under her foundation and deposited large amounts of mud and water.

“This is an area that has experienced problems with water runoff already,” Lenschow said. “I haven’t seen anything yet that addresses our problems, and these streets were not meant to hold this kind of water and traffic.

“A water tank of this magnitude would be great to have--we all feel like that. But there’s always the question of what happens to these houses if something goes wrong?”

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Reservoir Reservations

A planned reservoir in Laguna Beach would increase the city’s water storage capacity by nearly 20%. But some residents are concerned about the impact that a year of construction would have on hillside stability and possible future development in the hills.

Planned Reservoir

* Design: circular concrete tank

* Location: underground

* Depth: 15.5 feet

* Inside diameter: 232 feet

* Capacity: 5 million gallons

* Elevation: 600 feet

A new reservoir would greatly increase capacity in the higher elevations. Here’s how the city’s capacity is allocated now:

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Elevation Capacity served (feet) Reservoirs (million gallons) 0-200 6 14.01 200-400 7 7.31 400-600 4 2.25 600-800 4 1.73 800-1,000 2 3.50 23 28.80

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Source: Laguna Beach County Water District; Researched by BOB OURLIAN / Los Angeles Times