Price tag for water regulations pegged at $380 million

By Stephanie Bertholdo

bertholdo@theacorn.com

Proposed new water quality laws could cost the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and consumers up to $380 million, officials said at a recent Water Leadership Forum in Calabasas. But the strict new laws may not be necessary and, if implemented, may not even work.

Representatives from the Los Angeles County Public Works Department, the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board attempted to explain to over 100 local leaders and residents how the complicated new laws stemming from the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 will affect the how the complicated new laws stemming from the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 will affect the community.

The burden of building a reverse-osmosis wastewater treatment plant, for example, would fall on the water district, but residents would face a hefty rate increase to pay for the new plant, officials said.

Algae growth in Malibu Creek is at the center of the controversy. Experts discussed the need to “reduce impairments” in the streams and riverbeds, but a difference of opinion exists regarding the cause of the algae growth and whether the thick algae is even detrimental.

John Bishop, executive director of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, said treated wastewater, animal waste, and urban runoff that includes chemical pollutants and fertilizers are all forms of pollution that lead to algae growth.

Officials worry that the unsightly algae cuts off oxygen in the water and threatens aquatic life.

The area’s waterways are required to be “fishable and swimmable,” Bishop said.

According to Dr. Randal Orton, the Las Virgenes watershed administrator, “A creek without algae would be a dead creek.”

Orton said the algae growth in Malibu Creek is elevated but not excessive.

The water district’s Tapia sewer plant in Calabasas is allowed to discharge treated water into the creek, but that may change with the new regulations.

Officials discussed changing the location of Tapia’s water discharge into the Los Angeles River rather than Malibu Creek.

According to Bishop, the clean water mandate is strong.

“The (regional) board is constrained by a lot of federal and state laws to protect water quality,” Bishop said.

Dan Lafferty, assistant division engineer in the watershed management unit of Los Angeles Public Works, discussed the issue of urban runoff, the bacteria-rich water that goes down storm drains and ends up in the creeks and oceans. He said people who over-fertilizing their lawns are among the biggest culprits.

Orton has called for more testing before implementing the new measures. Millions of dollars could be save, he said.

Lafferty said it’s important to make sure money is spent correctly in developing the regulations and ensuring compliance.

“Everyone is in favor of clean water,” Lafferty said. “The problem is how we get there.”

For further information about the issues facing the Malibu Creek watershed, visit www.lvmwd.com and www.yourwater.org.