City Council working to clean up Buck Gulley

Paul Clinton

CORONA DEL MAR -- The Newport Beach City Council has endorsed a plan

to divert urban runoff that would otherwise flow down Buck Gulley into

the ocean off Little Corona beach.

The council stamped its approval on the plan at its meeting Tuesday

evening.

The council agreed to support a diversion plan being implemented by

the Orange County CoastKeeper until Oct. 15. The plan is to pump runoff

back up the canyon, filter it and sell it back to businesses to water

their grass.

If it cannot be sold, the runoff will be sent into the Orange County

Sanitation District’s system for treatment.

About 180 million gallons per minute flow down Buck Gulley, according

to CoastKeeper spokesman Randy Seton. The runoff reaches the beach and

flows into the ocean, degrading a protected environment, he said.

The stretch of land is one of 34 Areas of Special Biological

Significance in the state, an environmentally protected zone.

CoastKeeper’s diversion plan, an elaborate system of pumps and hoses,

will handle 100 million gallons a minute.

The program is being paid for out of a $50,000 grant given to the

group in March by a donor who has remained anonymous. In addition, the

city was awarded a $222,025 grant from bond revenue in May to help pay

for work in Buck Gulley.

Seton said the group will try to sell the filtered water to the

neighboring Pelican Hill Golf Course. A typical 18-hole course usually

uses 500,000 gallons a day to water the course during summer months.

The group hired Clear Creek Systems Inc. of Bakersfield to install the

pump system.

The council also agreed to enter into an agreement with the Orange

County Sanitation District to receive the runoff.

In addition to the city’s approval, CoastKeeper must also get other

approvals. In a July 3 letter to the city, the Santa Ana Regional Water

Quality Control Board endorsed the move.

Other agencies that must sign on include the California Coastal

Commission, the county and the California Department of Fish and Game.