An attractive new stormwater collection basin at a popular Santa Ana park is one of the latest defenses against environmental pollution in Orange County.
In October, Santa Ana public works officials joined OCTA staff at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Mabury Park to commemorate the instillation of a landscaped basin that will help divert and clean stormwater, which is often contaminated with pollutants that can harm the environment and wildlife. The basin helps keep pollution out of the storm drain system and, ultimately, Upper Newport Bay. Once in the basin, the stormwater filters through vegetation, engineered soil, and gravel to the groundwater basin where it becomes a source of local drinking water.
In 2018, Santa Ana was awarded $380,000 for the project as part of an Environmental Cleanup Program funded through OC Go (also known as Measure M), Orange County’s half-cent sales tax program for transportation improvements.
Since 2011, $24 million has been allocated to 177 water quality projects throughout Orange County.