OCTA - Orange County Transportation Authority
11/06/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/06/2025 13:22
OCTA Awards Over $3 million to Improve Orange County’s Water Quality
OCTA Awards Over $3 million to Improve Orange County's Water Quality
11/6/2025
OCTA works with cities to provide Measure M half-cent sales tax funds that reduce roadway pollution and protect local waterways, which to date has removed 80 million gallons of trash, enough to cover Angel Stadium's entire playing field nearly 100 feet deep in waste
ORANGE - The Orange County Transportation Authority has approved $3.1 million to fund eight local projects that help keep Orange County's waterways clean by capturing transportation-related trash and debris before it reaches storm drains and the ocean.
The funding for the water quality improvement projects, recently approved by the OCTA Board of Directors as part of the Measure M2 Environmental Cleanup Program, supports projects in the cities of: Anaheim, Irvine, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Orange, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, and Seal Beach.
Funding for the program comes from Measure M, the voter-approved half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, which also includes a strong commitment to environmental protection.
"OCTA continues to deliver on the promise to move people safely and efficiently while protecting the environment we all share," said OCTA Chair Doug Chaffee. "These projects demonstrate that even as we invest in our roads, freeways, and transit systems, we're also helping to ensure that Orange County's beaches and waterways remain clean and healthy for generations to come."
Protecting Water Quality Across Orange County
Through the latest Tier 1 Environmental Cleanup Program funding, OCTA will help cities install a variety of devices that capture and remove pollutants near the source before they can reach waterways. The devices to be installed throughout the county include connector pipe screens, automatic retractable screens, hydrodynamic separators, and full trash capture units.
In total, this round of funding will help install:
- 904 connector pipe screens
- 381 automatic retractable screens
- 30 full trash capture units
- 4 grated inlet trash screens
- 54 brush inlet screens
- 1 trash rover
- 2 hydrodynamic separators
These systems prevent litter and roadway debris from entering storm drains and ultimately the Pacific Ocean.
The projects by city include:
2025 Water Quality Improvement Project Funding Awards Tier 1
| AGENCY | PROJECT TITLE | LOCAL MATCH | M2 FUNDING | TOTAL |
| Anaheim | Stormwater Catch Basin Screen Installation Project Phase VI | 20% | $250,907 | $250,907 |
| Irvine | Catch Basin Connector Pipe Screen Installation Project - Phase 5 | 33% | $600,000 | $850,907 |
| Mission Viejo | Trash and Runoff Abatement Project: Citywide 2025 | 20% | $200,000 | $1,050,907 |
| Newport Beach | Newport Harbor Trash Rover 2.0 | 20% | $54,400 | $1,105,307 |
| Orange | White Oak Ridge & Palmyra Avenue Water Quality Storm Drain Improvement Project | 23% | $600,000 | $1,705,307 |
| San Clemente | Inland Residential and Rancho San Clemente Industrial Runoff Treatment Project | 20% | $564,000 | $2,269,307 |
| San Juan Capistrano | San Juan Capistrano High Priority CPS Screen Installation - 2025 | 20% | $219,459 | $2,488,766 |
| Seal Beach | 5th Street at Electric Avenue Stormwater Treatment Project | 30% | $600,000 | $3,088,766 |
A Decade of Cleaner Water
Since the Environmental Cleanup Program began in 2011, the OCTA Board has approved more than $43 million for 241 similar projects, estimated to have captured more than 80 million gallons of trash that would have otherwise entered Orange County's waterways.
That's the equivalent of covering Angel Stadium of Anaheim's entire playing field nearly 100 feet deep in waste, creating a nearly 10-story-tall pile of trash.
The program's two-tiered approach includes:
- Tier 1 - smaller-scale, city-level projects focused on visible trash and debris reduction.
- Tier 2 - larger, regional projects such as constructed wetlands and bioswales that capture heavy metals and other pollutants.
Together, these efforts reinforce OCTA's long-term environmental commitment under Measure M2, which also includes preserving more than 1,300 acres of open space and restoring natural habitat throughout the county.
For more information on OCTA's environmental initiatives, visit https://www.octa.net/water.
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OCTA - Orange County Transportation Authority published this content on November 06, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on November 06, 2025 at 19:22 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]