BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS

The Irvine Ranch Water District recently pledged $50,000 to the Peter

and Mary Muth Interpretive Center’s Working Wetlands exhibit.

District officials said the pledge shows their commitment to watershed

management and the health of the Back Bay.

Annual installments of $10,000 will be made for the next five years,

officials said. The first will be given to Jack Keating, president of the

Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends, at the district’s board of directors

meeting Monday.

The wetlands exhibit, designed to educate the public in an interactive

manner, is one of nine at the center.

The Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends also recently started a

campaign to raise $1 million for the interpretive center on Upper Newport

Bay.