{"id":14005,"date":"2026-06-10T23:02:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T23:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=14005"},"modified":"2026-06-10T23:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T23:02:18","slug":"herbicide-spraying-in-san-juan-and-trabuco-creeks-to-be-phased-out-studied","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=14005","title":{"rendered":"Herbicide spraying in San Juan and Trabuco creeks to be phased out, studied"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Months after herbicide spraying in San Juan and Trabuco creeks sparked outcry and organizing among residents, county leaders said they will officially phase out the practice in the two waterways in the next year.<\/p>\n

Read more Feds won\u2019t seek death penalty in plea deal with man accused of killing top Minnesota Democrat<\/a><\/p>\n

The OC Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 this week to approve a year-long pilot project that would limit the use of herbicides in the two south county creeks and evaluate the effectiveness of mechanical methods of clearing vegetation in flood control channels. Last month, OC Public Works announced a countywide pause on herbicide application.<\/p>\n

A public pressure campaign came from concerned residents who created the Creek Team OC. They mounted a social media blitz against the practice of spraying herbicides, which they say has wrecked local ecosystems and turned the county\u2019s once-lush creek beds barren.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour constituents feel betrayed on this issue,\u201d Creek Team founder Brent Linas said at Tuesday\u2019s supervisor meeting. \u201cYear after year, these ecosystems were treated as problems to be erased. This is a policy of ecocide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supervisor Katrina Foley initially introduced a proposal to phase out herbicide spraying in waterways across the county and identify safer alternatives to manage vegetation. The measure would have directed staff to update the county\u2019s Integrated Pest Management practices to \u201cprioritize prevention, monitoring, manual removal, mechanical removal, native planting, erosion control, habitat restoration, and lower toxicity alternatives before any chemical application.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Supervisors Don Wagner, Janet Nguyen and Doug Chaffee weren\u2019t in support of a broad ban just yet.<\/p>\n

Wagner said he wanted to wait for the completion of the pilot study and several investigations into the county\u2019s herbicide use before considering a countywide plan to halt the practice. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife in April launched a probe into herbicide use along San Juan Creek.<\/p>\n

Wagner proposed the alternative of the pilot involving the two south county creeks gathering more information and conducting additional studies before considering a countywide phase out plan in a year\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump names former CFPB official Brian Johnson to be agency\u2019s next permanent director<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cOh, and by the way, our budget may be in a better position for us to absorb the $14 million this may cost us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nguyen said she supports reviewing the county\u2019s herbicide application and exploring safer alternatives, but wants to review the results of the pilot project before moving forward with a countywide phase out. Before making a countywide decision, Nguyen said the county should consult the US Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies that operate flood channels.<\/p>\n

Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said waiting for the pilot project to wrap up first would only cause unnecessary delays \u2014 a remark that drew applause from Creek Team members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen too many things up here get killed by a thousand cuts,\u201d Sarmiento said. \u201cThere\u2019s one excuse after another, and nobody is taking a thoughtful, thorough, comprehensive look at this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Foley said she was grateful for Sarmiento\u2019s backing but accused the other supervisors of co-opting her proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to vote yes because this is my initiative and they just approved everything except for the first item, which is develop a plan within a year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Read more Judge rejects watchdog\u2019s bid to block Trump administration\u2019s $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Multiple county supervisors said they wanted to see results of the pilot program before making a countywide decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHerbicide spraying in San Juan and Trabuco creeks to be phased out, studied - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=14005\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Herbicide spraying in San Juan and Trabuco creeks to be phased out, studied - 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