Experts Say Laguna Reservoir Site Safe

Measures to shore up the hillside site of Laguna Beach’s new reservoir appear adequate to stabilize the slope through the rainy season, consultants told the City Council on Tuesday.

“Everything they’re doing is going to be effective on every square foot up there,” said Michael Harding of Great Circle International, one of two San Diego-based firms hired to review the project’s erosion control and site stability plans.

The experts’ conclusion is based on a study that the city commissioned this fall after residents expressed concern that grading for the 5-million-gallon reservoir, which was supposed to be finished months ago, would cause landslides this winter.

The project’s goal is to ensure an adequate water supply in case of wildfires like the one in 1993 that destroyed hundreds of homes in Laguna Beach. Woodward Clyde Consultants, the erosion control specialists hired by the city after that disaster, worked with Great Circle International on the study presented Tuesday.

The reservoir is being built under a cost-sharing agreement between Laguna Beach County Water District and the Irvine Co., which gave the land for the project in exchange for approval to build a road into an area where the developer hopes to put 20 homes.

Under state law, public water projects are exempt from local jurisdiction. Consequently, no environmental impact report was mandated for the reservoir, no grading permits were required and no county inspections were done. Laguna Beach officials brought in the consultants for an independent review of the project, especially anti-erosion measures during the construction.

Water district officials say the agency has taken all necessary steps to ensure that the site above Crescent Bay is stable.

“The erosion control plan is about 95% complete,” Mark Anderson, a civil engineer with the water district, told the City Council.

Earlier Tuesday, water district engineer James Nestor said the agency is confident that homes lying below the construction area are safe.

The water district has graded, installed fences and drains, dug ditches and piled sandbags to direct the flow of rainwater away from homes, Nestor said.

“In essence, we’ve pretty much glued the site together.”

The projected date for completing the reservoir and replanting the hillside is now the end of next summer. Nestor said earlier that the project has been delayed by discovery of unexpected geological conditions in the area.