SB channels grant money to LW to install catch basins

CLEAN WATER INITIATIVE

The City of Seal Beach has won nearly a half million dollars in grant funding to install 174 full-capture catch basins in Leisure World. The funds were allocated from OC Go, also known as the Measure M, Environmental Cleanup Program operated through the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA).

The goal is to help improve overall water quality in Orange County.

Every day, more than 70 million gallons of oily pollution, litter, and dirty contamination washes off streets, roads and freeways, and pours into Orange County waterways and beaches.

When it rains, the transportationgenerated pollution increases tenfold, contributing to the increasing number of beach closures and environmental hazards along the Orange County coast.

This program allocates funds countywide to help jurisdictions like Leisure World meet Clean Water Act standards by installing catch basins to trap debris before it enters regional waterways.

To date, $33 million has been awarded to 212 projects throughout Orange County, according to Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA).

To advance to LW project, the Seal Beach City Council on Feb. 27 adopted a resolution approving a cooperative agreement with the Golden Rain Foundation to install fullcapture catch basin inserts in Leisure World.

The cost will be mostly covered through the OCTA funding, which awarded the city $396,000 from the Environmental Cleanup Program (ECP Tier 1).

The GRF has agreed to commit $99,000, a 20% matching fund requirement, to operate and maintain the basins. The GRF will reimburse the city once the project is completed.