Environmental protection near Dove Canyon
October 2006

By: Betty H. Olson, Ph.D.
Board Member, Santa Margarita Water District Board of Directors

At Santa Margarita Water District, we’re always looking for ways to keep our customers’ water bills low, while protecting our South Orange County environment.

That’s why partnering with others to curb the damaging effects of urban runoff has been a big priority for us this year.

This fall, after months of planning, SMWD will join the Trabuco Canyon Water District and the Audubon Society to launch a $17 million urban runoff diversion project which will turn up to 250 acre-feet of annual runoff into a water resource.

This runoff had been harming the natural habitat in the Starr Ranch sanctuary, a 4,000-acre preserve run by the Audubon Society near the community of Dove Canyon.

Since Dove Canyon was built, excess water from sprinklers, hoses and other urban sources has flowed into the community’s streets and gutters, picking up pollutants such as fertilizers, motor oil and pesticides.

Thousands of gallons of this contaminated water has found its way into Starr Ranch, an area that preserves our unusual Mediterranean climate eco-systems, like coastal sage scrub, grasslands, oak woodlands, riparian woodlands and chaparral. The runoff is damaging these habitats, especially in Bell Canyon, which is suffering from poor water quality, erosion and siltation.

The new diversion system, planned and engineered by SMWD to prevent runoff from reaching Starr Ranch, calls for the installation of diversion wells at each of the existing outfall sites in Dove Canyon that currently drain into Oso Creek.

The wells will capture up to 81.5 million gallons of water each year, which will be sent into storage at both SMWD’s Portola Reservoir in Coto de Caza and Dove Canyon’s man-made Dove Lake, both of which store water used for irrigation.

Water generated from the project will be used for irrigation by the water district’s customers, freeing up more valuable drinking water for household uses.

Each gallon of runoff water captured equals a gallon of drinking water saved. At the same time, we’ll be preserving the ecological integrity of one of our local environmental treasures by combating urban runoff, which is the No.1 coastal problem in Orange County.

While SMWD’s service area does not include the community of Dove Canyon, our district was able to provide the resources needed to make this extensive project possible. And when it becomes fully functional next year; TCWD will be responsible for intercepting all runoff from Dove Canyon into Starr Ranch during the annual dry season, when runoff is undiluted by storms.

We are grateful to Audubon for securing a $400,000 grant from Sand Diego Regional Quality Control Board, and to TCWD for its cooperation.

In addition to our involvement in this innovative runoff diversion project, SMWD also joined with the City of Mission Viejo over the summer to support the 10th annual Inner-Coastal Watershed Cleanup Day, helping local volunteers clear trash from the waterway along the Oso Creek Trail.

Each year for the last five years our District has supported this event, which helps keep our streams, beaches and oceans cleaner.

Please visit www.SMWD.com to learn more about runoff and conservation, as well as the latest about SMWD’s upcoming events, classes and projects.

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