Near the intersection of Aliso Viejo and Moulton parkways and nearly out of sight of the busy roadways, a quiet battle against pollution is being waged around and within Aliso Viejo Creek. Two adjoining projects partially funded by Measure M, Orange County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, are reviving the area by cleaning the water and surrounding habitat.
Last month, construction began on a wetland project that will naturally treat runoff from 1,500 acres of residential and commercial areas from the cities of Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest, Laguna Hills and Laguna Woods before it merges with Aliso Creek. The city of Aliso Viejo is leading the Dairy Fork Wetland and Habitat Restoration Project, which will include building two ponds, removing non-native invasive plants and planting native, ecosystem-friendly foliage. When construction is finished sometime this summer, the wetland will have the ability to reduce pollutants in the water by as much as 99 percent.
Funding for the Dairy Fork Wetland and Habitat Projects was enabled in part by the Measure M Environmental Cleanup Program, which provides funding to improve water quality in Orange County from pollution caused by transportation.
More than $41 million has been awarded for water quality projects to date. Over the next 30 years, approximately $300 million will be provided to improve water quality and reduce pollutants that lead to waterways.
Moving downstream, another partially Measure M-funded endeavor, the Aliso Creek Project, is in full swing. Since 2012, OCTA has worked with the Laguna Canyon Foundation to restore habitat by removing 30 acres of invasive plant species to help restore and enhance 55 acres of riparian and adjacent transitional habitat along a critical portion of Aliso Creek. The project builds on a multi-year effort led by the Laguna Canyon Foundation and its partners to restore the Aliso Creek watershed from its headwaters to its ocean outflow at Aliso Beach.
Funding for the Aliso Creek Project was partially provided by the Measure M Freeway Environmental Mitigation Program, which allocates funds to acquire land and fund habitat restoration projects in exchange for streamlined approval of freeway projects. Since 2011, OCTA has purchased seven open space properties totaling more than 1,300 acres to preserve the land and permanently ensure that valuable animal and plant species can thrive for generations.