From stratospheric water bill hikes to coastlines of sewage, the year 2023 put Orange County’s aging and neglected water infrastructure into a new focus.
Often with residents being the ones forced to pay for the years of neglected repairs.
Earlier this month, Voice of OC revealed that the City of Laguna Beach was spilling more sewage into the ocean than entire water districts, into one of OC’s most visually commanding landscapes and, thus, busiest tourism sites.
[Read: Laguna Beach Spills More Sewage Into Ocean Than Anywhere Else in OC]
The report came after a 95,000-gallon sewage spill in late November that closed 2 miles along the city’s iconic coastline.
To environmental watchdogs around town, the spill merely marked the anniversary of a more disastrous 2019 spill around Thanksgiving – 1 million gallons.
Critics blamed the city’s neglected sewer system and a longtime lack of investment by city leaders into upgrades.
And the investments that have been made in recent years are coming directly out of residents’ pockets, in the form of annual sewer bill hikes of 6% through 2026.
It’s prompted a debate over whether the city should cede control of its sewer system to another water agency entirely.
Water agencies across OC, meanwhile, fended off backlash on another front, this year.
One of the first disputes this year came from San Juan Capistrano.
The Shea Center, an equine therapy nonprofit based in the city, sounded the alarm bells:
The Santa Margarita Water District – which took over the city’s water system in 2021 – was proposing as much as 1200% bill increases for local businesses, which for the Shea Center would have meant $30,000 in additional water payments a year, and increases of over 700% on portions of their bill.
[Read: San Juan Capistrano Businesses Shocked Over Staggering Proposed Water Bill Hike]
Water district officials, at the time, told Voice of OC that under prior city management, the system had been neglected to the point of needing $50 million in investments.
But the water district’s effort to get things back on track again – by raising millions for capital improvements through rate increases – has led to widespread concerns among some local businesses and nonprofits.
On top of that, an email from a district executive – wondering whether businesses would be able to understand what was happening enough to actually fight the rate increases – had accidentally been sent to Shea Center leaders, inflaming the opposition.
Water district officials ultimately approved the rate hikes in August, but also voted in favor of initiating a new rate study.
Bad finances, neglected infrastructure – these same issues prompted improvement efforts at the Trabuco Canyon Water District.
Similarly, over the summer, the district forced residents to absorb the cost of these investments in their own water bills – and by double the amount – in the areas of Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo, Lake Forest and unincorporated South Orange County.
[Read: Some South OC Residents’ Water Rates Double]
And it happened over those residents’ objections, even prompting efforts to recall the water district’s elected board members.
City Council members in Garden Grove – which operates its own water system – soon followed, hiking bi-monthly water bills from $112 to $146 over the course of five years.
[Read: Garden Grove Joins in on Orange County’s Water Rate Hikes]
And also blaming the increased costs on a need to combat bad finances and infrastructure in need of upgrades.
With only one council member questioning the increased amounts – and wondering whether city staff could absorb the cost elsewhere – most city council members said it was a necessary decision.
A bitter pill, they said, that residents would have to swallow.