Irvine Ranch Water District

Irvine Ranch Water District officials said that the utility has gained a controlling interest in the Santa Ana Heights Water Co. More than 50% of the shares in the private mutual water company have been signed over to the district, officials said. That does not mean however, that the merger is complete, district board member Peer Swan said. The first goal, gaining the majority of the shares, has been reached. But the merger still has to be approved by the Santa Ana Heights Water Co.

It's another hot summer, and California is officially in a drought, according to the Governator. A Los Angeles company, Cyber Rain Inc., has come out with a water-saving solution. The doodad, called Cyber-Rain XCI, attaches to sprinkler systems and wirelessly looks up online weather forecasts to determine how much to water the lawn. Hot days will see Cyber-Rain doling out more water. Cool, cloudy days would result in less watering. And, of course, the gadget lays off the drink entirely on rainy days.

Two years ago, there didn't seem to be much hope for saving a tiny ranch house built half a century ago by James Harvey Irvine Sr. The cottage, which once sat across from the Irvine family's bean and grain warehouse, was prized by historical preservationists. Even though Irvine himself never lived in the cottage, generations of warehouse managers did. One even killed himself in its garage after embezzling money from the company.

Re "Waste Water Detected Near Newport Since '87," Sept. 27: One more incident comes to light causing further deterioration in the public trust of the Orange County Sanitation District. Though I don't believe that a sinister motive was behind this information not coming out, the alternative is either ineptness or cavalier disregard for the public safety. The district board of directors must be held accountable. The staff of the OCSD follows the direction of their board of directors, if they choose to direct.

Orange County water officials on Thursday announced a historic $169-million deal with the U.S. Navy and the Irvine Ranch Water District to remove ground water contaminants, including a hazardous chemical from the former El Toro Marine base that threatens local drinking water supplies. After seven years of contentious negotiations with the Navy and the U.S.

After reviewing two independent studies on a controversial plan to empty reclaimed waste water into Upper Newport Bay, the City Council on Monday is expected to take a stand against the Irvine Ranch Water District proposal. Reports by a UCLA biologist and a San Diego-based ecologist state that dumping 5 million gallons of highly treated sewage into the bay daily would not benefit the ecosystem, as the water district contends, and might be harmful to it.

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Friday barred most of the written statements of two Irvine Ranch Water District board candidates from the county's November sample ballot, siding with two incumbents who claimed the statements amounted to a "hit piece" against them.

A Newport Beach environmental group has filed a lawsuit challenging a local water district's plan to use an empty reservoir near the city to store nearly a billion gallons of reclaimed sewage water, one of the group's directors said Wednesday. "We want them to do what's necessary to assure compliance" with environmental laws, said Bob Caustin, founding director of Defend the Bay, which sued the Irvine Ranch Water District last week in Orange County Superior Court.

Regulators have agreed to reduce a $100,000 fine facing the Irvine Ranch Water District for failing to promptly report the accidental discharge of millions of gallons of reclaimed water into a Newport Bay tributary last year. The water district will instead pay a $10,000 fine and conduct $49,000 worth of water testing under a settlement reached in recent days with the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The Irvine Ranch Water District and Santa Ana Heights Water Co. are negotiating an agreement to consolidate the two agencies. Arthur Cencel, president of the board of directors for Santa Ana Heights Water Co., said the private company's customers would be better served by the larger public Irvine Ranch Water District because of increasing costs and regulatory fees. The private company serves about 3,000 customers in Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and unincorporated Santa Ana Heights.

A judge has ordered the Irvine Ranch Water District to prepare an environmental impact study of its San Joaquin reservoir. Defend the Bay, a Newport Beach environmental group, filed a lawsuit in January challenging the water district's plan for the reservoir, which until 1994 was used to store drinking water. Damage from a landslide has kept it empty since then. Orange County Superior Court Judge William F.

Orange County water officials on Thursday announced a historic $169-million deal with the U.S. Navy and the Irvine Ranch Water District to remove ground water contaminants, including a hazardous chemical from the former El Toro Marine base that threatens local drinking water supplies. After seven years of contentious negotiations with the Navy and the U.S.

Orange County water officials on Thursday announced a historic $169-million deal with the U.S. Navy and the Irvine Ranch Water District to remove ground-water contaminants, including a hazardous chemical from the former El Toro Marine base that threatens local drinking-water supplies. After seven years of contentious negotiations with the Navy and the Justice Department, the Orange County Water District board of directors on Wednesday approved a settlement that calls for the Navy to pay $27.

A Newport Beach environmental group has filed a lawsuit challenging a local water district's plan to use an empty reservoir near the city to store nearly a billion gallons of reclaimed sewage water, one of the group's directors said Wednesday. "We want them to do what's necessary to assure compliance" with environmental laws, said Bob Caustin, founding director of Defend the Bay, which sued the Irvine Ranch Water District last week in Orange County Superior Court.

About 43,000 local homes and businesses will be getting their water bills from a different agency this month, the result of the Los Alisos Water District being taken over by the larger Irvine Ranch Water District. The change, approved by the Local Agency Formation Commission in September, took effect at midnight Sunday. The merger gives the Irvine Ranch district a total of 266,000 customers and more than 84,000 acres.

Directors of the Irvine Ranch Water District named Mary Aileen Matheis to serve as the board's first female president during an annual organizational meeting Monday. Matheis, an Irvine resident reelected in November to another four-year term, through 2004, has been on the board since 1988. "I'm very honored," she said. "Our past leadership has been very effective, and I look forward to continuing that tradition.

About 43,000 local homes and businesses will be getting their water bills from a different agency this month, the result of the Los Alisos Water District being taken over by the larger Irvine Ranch Water District. The change, approved by the Local Agency Formation Commission in September, took effect at midnight Sunday. The merger gives the Irvine Ranch district a total of 266,000 customers and more than 84,000 acres.

Irvine Ranch Water District directors recently approved an operating budget for fiscal 1998-99 that avoids increases in water and sewer rates. The $38-million budget, effective July 1, will provide the operating funds to supply treated, untreated and reclaimed water, and to provide sewer service during the coming year. In February 1997, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California provided a $70-million rebate to its member agencies. The district is using its share of that rebate, $1.

A cap on development in Lower Peters Canyon had the Irvine Co. appealing to the City Council this week, asking that a building by the Irvine Ranch Water District not reduce what the developer will be allowed to build nearby. The city had set a 1.35-million-square-foot limit on the amount of building space allowed in a planning area shared by the district and the Irvine Co.

Shady Canyon Drive, formerly Bonita Canyon Drive, is now open to traffic, officials announced Friday. The road was closed in May to allow the Irvine Ranch Water District to install pipelines for domestic water, reclaimed water and sewage all at once. Since then, some Turtle Rock residents have had to use alternate routes to get out of the development and onto the major thoroughfares of Culver or University drives.