Water regulations leave bad taste

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board is about to set some incredibly high standards for water and sewer agencies upstream from the Pacific Ocean.

As now proposed, the board’s expectations are excessive.

While nobody wants public beaches to be closed because of pollution, the new standards must be realistic and allow reasonable time for compliance. The regulations, although well-intentioned, will be prohibitive and could double or even triple current sewer rates in the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District.

More practical alternatives must be found to dispose of the recycled water from Tapia sewer plant.

Shockingly, the board’s new standards don’t rely on proven scientific data. The debate is still open as to what causes the excessive algae in Malibu Creek and the death of fish and plants. And the dumping of solvents, pesticides and other chemicals into the creek is everybody’s fault, not just the water district’s.

There’s no proof that the high standards being proposed by the Regional Board will even fix the problem. The expectations might sound good, but they miss the mark because nobody in Malibu (with the exception of Pepperdine University) is even on a sewer system. Most of the blame is being placed upstream on the water district. While the Regional Board focuses its attention on the relatively clean recycled water being released into Malibu Creek upstream, there are leaking septic tanks closer to the beach that are being overlooked. The solid waste that is seen at Surfrider Beach doesn’t come from the reclaimed water of Tapia, but from the septic tanks and lagoon sludge in Malibu.

The water district isn’t entirely blameless. For example, we think the current rates could be maintained if a tighter budget were followed. The district put the public millions of dollars in debt to build its palatial headquarters in Calabasas 10 years ago and it’s a building that still isn’t being used to its fullest capacity.

The point, of course, is cleaner water.

All residents, businesses and public agencies must work together to bring the Malibu watershed back to life. We’re confident it can be done.

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