A 95,000-gallon sewage spill that closed 2 miles along Laguna Beach’s iconic, cliffside coastline last week has amplified a major concern for some residents.
Over the last 16 years, the city has spilled more sewage than entire water districts, into one of Orange County’s most visually commanding – and visitor packed – landscapes. In response, city leaders have in recent years increased funding toward upgrades to the system.
But the money is also coming out of residents’ pockets, with sewer bills going up 6% every year.
Last week’s spill – which comes two years after the 1-million-gallon spill of Thanksgiving in 2019 – is now fueling questions if the city should hand the sewage system off to another agency entirely.
“The city running its own sewer district, I think, is not the not the most efficient or economical way to go,” said Laguna Beach Councilmember George Weiss.
Ask someone else across the City Council dais:
“I don’t know if I agree with that,” said Mayor Bob Whalen, while adding he’s open – but skeptical – to exploring that option.
The City of Laguna beach – which operates its own water and sewage system all the way until the south end of town, which is then controlled by the South Coast Water District – has spilled a total of 2.7 million gallons of sewage since 2007, according to state water resources data.
The state defines a spill as a discharge of sewage from any portion of a sanitary system due to overflow, operational failure, and/or infrastructure failure.
Over the same time frame, about 2.5 million gallons of Laguna Beach’s spilt sewage reached ocean waters.
That’s more than any other Orange County public agency listed in the state database – which includes water districts for multiple cities, like the South Coast and Santa Margarita water districts.
Laguna Beach’s system also spilled more raw sewage than most public agencies between Orange and San Diego counties.
County public health officials say untreated sewage spills into the ocean can expose swimmers to pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and protozoans. They also present health hazards and damage to homes and businesses, as well as to the environment, local waterways, and beaches.
Changing of the Guard?
“It’s clear to me that, given the history of this city’s water quality, we need to consider moving sewer management to an organization that has more expertise than the city,” Weiss said.
It’s gotten to a point where some water quality advocates have pushed for changing sewer operators.
“We’re pretty much fed up, especially with our city council leadership,” said Roger Butow, who leads the Clean Water Now group he founded in 1998, adding that local elected leaders haven’t invested enough money into properly training City Hall’s water quality staff and modernizing and upgrading the infrastructure.
Weiss put forward the idea – to change hands over the sewers – for discussion at a council meeting in October, last year.
But the idea didn’t take off, with other council members and staff appearing more reticent about initiating what would have to be a multi-year analysis by the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).
Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen shared in that reticence, who said he’s skeptical of yielding sewage control to another organization.
The idea of an analysis came up during Weiss’ pitch at the Oct. 18, 2022 meeting, and no such study has since been requested, Whalen said.
In Whalen’s view, such an organizational shift isn’t necessary.
“I think we’re being very proactive to upgrade a system that I think had some deferred maintenance,” Whalen said, arguing that the city has recently made hopeful investments – the largest in years – toward upgrading the city sewer system.
In 2022, the city council approved $7.5 million in low-interest loans to reconstruct sewage lift stations and rehabilitate pipes, among other overdue improvements.
Separately, that same year, the City Council approved an $8.5 million loan to rehabilitate five segments of a 4.5-mile sewage transmission system.
Sewage Rates Increase
Part of that investment, however, has increased the cost burden on residents.
The City Council, in 2021, also approved annual, automatic sewer rate increases of 6% through the 2025-2026 fiscal year to fund improvements to sewer pipes.
A single family unit’s annual charge in 2021 – $764 – would by 2026 become $1,022.
“It’s a function of the political will of the people in power,” said Butow, who added that, had the city earmarked an annual $2 million in water system maintenance over the last 20 years, Laguna Beach might not be in the situation it faces today.
“We are not investing enough money in our staff. And we’re not investing money in infrastructure,” he said.
The Laguna Beach Water District has water district status but operates as a subsidiary of the city, with the advice of appointed commissioners. The city council members act as board directors and meet in that alternate capacity.
Weiss’ idea was to make the Laguna district an elected public agency, incorporating the city’s former Water Quality Dept. into it.
He argued that most Laguna residents served by the district don’t know that when they’re voting for City Council members, they are electing the decision makers for the water district as well, and that the incorporation of the district as a proper public agency would allow greater resident representation and participation.
He also said that handing the sewer keys to another agency would save money.
The South Coast Water District – “They already cover 80% of the city’s population with water and sewer services. So it’s natural to bring it over,” Weiss said.
Whalen said he doesn’t have “a particular aversion to studying the possibility of transferring (the sewer system) over to another agency.”
If he had to choose between yielding control to the Laguna Beach Water District and South Coast Water District, Whalen said he would choose the latter.
“A spill is really unfortunate anytime it happens,” Whalen said, adding that it happened while staff was doing maintenance. “It happened because we were in there trying to improve the system.”
Brandon Pho is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at bpho@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @brandonphooo.