Irvine Ranch Water District

An Orange County Superior Court judge has told the Irvine Ranch Water District it cannot pump millions of gallons of highly treated waste into Upper Newport Bay. Mark Wolfe, attorney for Defend the Bay, called the decision a significant step to restore water quality and recreational uses to Newport Bay. "We have a patient with emphysema and gotten him to stop smoking, but we've got a lot of work to restore his health," Wolfe said. Judge Robert E.

Ronald Young, for the past 11 years general manager of the Irvine Ranch Water District, announced Thursday that he is resigning his $140,000-a-year position. Young and two members of the board of directors said the resignation had no connection to the arrests last month of four men, including a district employee, in the theft of $2.2 million from the district. The resignation will become effective Sept. 28. Board President Daryl Miller said the district wanted Young to continue in his job.

Public agencies should have learned from the Orange County bankruptcy and a series of thefts and embezzlements in recent years the importance of financial oversight. Apparently no one passed the message on to the Irvine Ranch Water District. Last week, Irvine police said a former water district employee has been accused of approving payments to three contractors for rebates on water conservation equipment that was never installed.

Auditors and managers of municipal agencies around Orange County said Friday that the alleged theft of more than $2.2 million at the Irvine Ranch Water District might have been prevented by elementary financial controls regularly required by public agencies and private businesses. Such controls, including inspecting work before payment is made and having several managers divide responsibility for approving disbursements, were apparently not in place or broke down at the water district.

The Irvine Ranch Water District has never been an ordinary source for water. While most other Orange County special districts operate amid whispers of public recognition, Irvine Ranch screams its prosperity and influence from a $12.9-million copper-clad complex that rises Oz-like from acres of furrowed farmland off the San Diego Freeway. It's the only water district in the state allowed by the Legislature to invest in residential real estate.

Four men, including an employee of the Irvine Ranch Water District, were charged Thursday with allegedly stealing more than $2.2 million from the district by submitting phony bills for rebates on water conservation equipment over a two-year period, authorities said. Charged with criminal conspiracy and several counts of grand theft were three water management consultants, J. Randall Ismay of Laguna Niguel, Robert William Casey of San Dimas and Robert Edward Baier of Seal Beach.

Irvine Ranch Water District customers can now access their accounts online. Visitors can check their balances, review water usage history and take a virtual tour of the Michelson Water Reclamation Plant. Also posted on the site are maps, water audits, news releases, quality reports, conservation information, brochures and district publications. The site, at http://www.irwd .com, also includes an extensive water education section for children. Information: (949) 453-5300.