County Shifts Creek Maintenance Practices in South Orange County

Orange County Public Works crews are now clearing non-native vegetation from the San Juan and Trabuco creeks in South Orange County without the use of herbicides. This change in practice follows efforts by a group of local activists who advocated for alternative maintenance methods.

Near Descanso Park in San Juan Capistrano, OC Public Works staff are reportedly clearing vegetation by hand ahead of winter storms. Brent Linas, founder of the Creek Team, a group of activists, noted a shift in the agency's approach, stating that OC Public Works now seeks to work with the community. Activists who once confronted county officials in the creekbeds are now providing them with refreshments.

The turnaround in creek care by OC Public Works has become a point of contention in the Fifth District OC Board of Supervisors campaign. Incumbent Supervisor Katrina Foley and challenger State Assemblywoman Diane Dixon have both addressed the issue, with each campaign presenting differing accounts of who is responsible for the change.

Supervisor Foley has asserted that the shift is due to her leadership on the Board of Supervisors. In campaign materials, she stated her opposition to herbicides in public spaces and waterways, claiming to lead efforts to eliminate their use at the county level. Foley also stated she fought to stop creek spraying and cancel contracts, attributing contractor penalties to her complaints and noting she began this effort as Costa Mesa mayor in 2017.

Assemblywoman Dixon, in turn, has accused Foley of misrepresenting her record, pointing out that Foley voted twice for county herbicide spraying contracts in both 2021 and 2022. These votes occurred before the Creek Team began to raise public awareness about the issue.

However, public records, including email communications and meeting videos, indicate that local activists with the Creek Team were instrumental in prompting the county's altered approach. Activists challenged OC Public Works staff directly, questioning arguments that flood control and habitat restoration could not be balanced without herbicides.

The Creek Team obtained incomplete invoices through Public Records Act requests, which raised doubts about OC Public Works' measurements of herbicide spraying. They also challenged the agency's interpretation of a key Army Corps of Engineers study and uncovered a lack of public notice regarding spraying activities.

While Supervisor Foley did publicly question herbicide spraying early in her term, she did not publicly press or challenge the bureaucracy's responses. Records show she voted in favor of spraying contracts in 2021 and again in 2022. Video from the 2021 meeting shows Foley accepting OC Public Works staff arguments that spraying was being avoided, and she asked no public questions by 2022. Email records between Foley's staff and OC Public Works also suggest deference to the department, with an OC Public Works manager even instructing Foley's spokesperson to avoid certain restoration language when communicating with residents, stating the channels were managed flood control, not natural water bodies.

Additionally, public records indicate that Foley avoided meeting with Creek Team activists for months last fall, leading the group to publicly call her out in February. By March, activists had organized a public town hall which reportedly highlighted Foley's difficulty in publicly challenging OC Public Works officials or supporting residents against the bureaucracy. She later became visibly irritated with activists for not following her lead.

Following the town hall, Foley established a subcommittee to study the issue, though Creek Team activists were not initially included on the panel until recently. Foley also sought a countywide ban on herbicide spraying, a proposal that was ultimately rejected by her Board colleagues, with Supervisors Don Wagner and Janet Nguyen, alongside Chairman Doug Chaffee, voting against it.

Following the rejection of Foley's proposed ban, Supervisor Wagner successfully motioned for a pilot project to halt spraying on the San Juan and Trabuco Creeks for one year. Assemblywoman Dixon reportedly met with activists promptly and expressed support for the Creek Team's goals, a commitment she outlined in a public letter and questionnaire responses. However, it remains unclear if her follow-up with regulatory agencies yielded specific outcomes.

The review of public records, meetings, and campaign statements indicates that sustained activist pressure was the catalyst for the policy change. Creek Team co-founders Linas, Bethany Nelms, and Robert Beard were critical in examining OC Public Works' permits, invoices, and internal records, demonstrating the impact of an informed community's demand for accountability.