The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, part of the state’s environmental protection agency, is proposing comprehensive new regulations to reduce pollution in water from storm drains and flood control channels in the Santa Ana River Basin covering large parts of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
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Local governments in Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties have pushed back on the proposed order, though, sending the board letters objecting to the plan. Many of the municipalities’ complaints remain centered on the new regulations’ projected costs. An environmental group, however, said stricter stormwater runoff regulations are needed.
The water board’s proposed plan, known as the “Regional MS4 Permit,” aims to reduce pollution carried by stormwater runoff from municipal storm sewer systems, according to a 2024 water board fact sheet. Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board spokesperson Ailene Voisin said by email on Wednesday, July 22, the fact sheet remains “an accurate description.” As an example, the fact sheet notes there are strategies and regulations that the cities and counties must follow to prevent trash from contaminating stormwater runoff.
Voisin said that storm sewer systems continue to be a significant source of pollutants to communities’ waterways.
“The order establishes a consistent and enforceable regional framework for how cities and counties manage stormwater to reduce pollutants, attain water quality standards, protect rivers, lakes, beaches, and other receiving waters,” Voisin said by email. The order would also adhere to federal and state water quality laws, she said.
Several city and county officials aren’t on board with the plan.
A San Bernardino County press release published on July 16 says the proposed stormwater requirements would cost the county and 16 of its cities $11 billion over the next 20 years.
Some of the 16 cities include Colton, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto, Upland and Yucaipa, according to San Bernardino County Spokesperson Jannelle Needham in a July 23 email.
“We respect the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board’s mission and share the goal of clean water for our communities, but the cost impacts in this proposal are substantial, and we’ve seen in other regions that large investments in stormwater compliance haven’t translated into measurable water quality gains,” County Board Supervisor Dawn Rowe said in the press release.
Big Bear Lake Assistant City Manager Sean Sullivan said the permit presents challenges to a low-population city. In a letter to the water board, Sullivan said: “The scope and complexity of several proposed requirements would place a significant burden on our community with limited staffing, technical resources, and financial capacity.”
Similar to San Bernardino’s fiscal concerns, Riverside said on its city website that it could need as much as $2.32 billion for the next 20 years to build stormwater capture and treatment projects because of the proposed rules. The city also said that it would require $42 million a year for operations costs.
The city of Santa Ana also echoed similar concerns. Valerie Amezcua, Santa Ana mayor, said in a June 26 letter to the water board that the regulations if approved would impact the city’s financial stability.
Orange County Coastkeeper, a nonprofit that looks to protect waters in Orange County, advocates for stricter stormwater runoff regulations in Southern California and said it sees numerous inadequacies with the water board’s current draft permit.
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Coastkeeper said the plan presented by the Santa Ana Water Board falls short because it is noncompliant with local water quality standards, lacks a monitoring plan and is unenforceable. As it stands, Coastkeeper says it opposes the current draft of the regulations.
Among the several concerns Coastkeeper has with the water board’s current regulation draft is that it fails to evaluate the costs of polluted waterways.
“By law, the permit must weigh the economic and community impacts of pollution, but the current analysis relies on assumptions rather than evidence,” Orange County Coastkeeper Communications Director Matthew Sylvester said Thursday, July 23.
Sylvester also said that the proposed stormwater permit ignores the current legal precedent for water pollution limits.
Sylvester said the nonprofit frequently works with city and county officials and understands that “money is always tight,” but that other regions in California don’t seem to be experiencing pushback from these types of regulations.
“We aren’t so convinced that they can’t afford it,” said Sylvester, adding “this is just as important as other issues that they want to fundraise for.”
“As much as like 80 to 90% of all the pollution coming to our ocean is from land,” said Sylvester.
Regulations intended to reduce pollution from storm drains and flood control channels will have “a direct impact on water quality from up to Big Bear Lake and the top of the Santa Ana River watershed, all the way down to the Pacific Ocean,” Sylvester said by phone.
Garry Brown, founder and president of Orange County Coaskeeper – along with other leadership members – submitted a letter to the Santa Ana Water Board on July 20 that further expanded on previously stated concerns.
The Santa Ana Regional Water Board is set to discuss the plan and consider public comments on Friday, July 24, at 9 a.m. during a meeting in Orange. The board is set to take no action on the tentative order at this meeting but may give direction to staff. Board members will consider adopting the order at a later meeting scheduled for Aug. 21.
The Santa Ana Regional Water Board is part of a system that includes the State Water Resources Control Board and nine regional boards. According to the State Water Board, it is one of six environmental entities operating under the authority of the California Environmental Protection Agency.
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