South OC Channel Clearing Project In Advance Of El Niño Will Avoid Herbicide, Pesticide Use

SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A channel in South Orange County is due for clearing thanks to a pilot program that does not include the use of herbicides or pesticides.

The Orange County public works personnel will begin the program next week on two channels in San Juan Capistrano: the San Juan Creek at the convergence of Trabuco Creek.

Subscribe

Orange County Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Katrina Foley praised the project Wednesday for its collaborative effort among public and private interests.

"I think we did a good job collaborating with all of the stakeholders," Foley said. It's all part of El Niño preparation, she explained.

"We've got to prepare for El Niño, but we don't want to use pesticides or herbicides," Foley said. "I do think it is my priority that we avoid using herbicides and pesticides wherever possible, and we should certainly do away with routine spraying and do more targeted applications. It's better for our health and the habitat and keeps our waterways clean."

Organizations including Surfrider and Coastkeeper provided input on the plan to avoid using chemicals in the channel.

Orange County engineer Edward Frondoso said in a conference call with reporters this week that public works staffers will manually clear some of the thicker vegetation from the San Juan and Trabuco Creek channels in a project the Board of Supervisors approved June 9.

"Truly, the goal is to see if we can manage this channel effectively" without the chemicals, Frondoso said. "We'll do everything we normally can... and we're going to keep track of how invasive species grow back."

The program will measure how effective it is to manually remove the vegetation and how much it will cost in labor and materials, Frondoso said.

"All of this will help us advise if it's something we can continue to do in the future and be expanded to other channels," Frondoso said.

Hugo Pineda, the deputy director of operations and maintenance for the county's public works department, added, "We're focused on the removal of woody vegetation."

Some of the work will involve some electric and power tools as the brush is ripped out, Pineda said. The "low-lying grass" will be left alone, he said.

"All of this is being done in preparation for the storm season" this winter, Pineda said. "We're going to be at it for a couple of months."

It's not clear if the county will have to hire outside contractors to help out.

The county is also eyeing a capital improvement project that will consider widening channels.

Other jurisdictions have tried similar programs and concluded it was not practical, Frondoso said. "But we'll only find out by doing it ourselves."