Lake Forest Gets $58,000 from OCTA to Keep Drains Trash-Free

A grant from the Orange County Transportation Authority will help Lake Forest reduce the amount of trash that makes its way to the ocean.

The city has been awarded $58,000 by the OCTA board of directors to fund more than half the cost of installing 67 automatically retractable screens over some of the city's storm drains.

The transportation authority's $58,000 will be matched by $32,830 from the city to cover the project's $90,830 price tag.

Lake Forest's application was one of 47 submitted in this first round of funding in hopes of being awarded a portion of nearly $3 million distributed for projects aimed at improving the quality of Orange County’s waterways and beaches.

Of the applications received, 34 were selected to receive money, according to the OCTA. See the complete OCTA 2011-12 environmental cleanup project funding list here.

Examples of projects funded include installing catch basins to prevent trash from entering drainage systems, putting in screens that capture smaller debris and making irrigation system improvements to decrease oily runoff from streets.

The funding comes from the Measure M2 environmental program, approved by voters in 2006. Two percent of the half-cent sales tax will be used on a countywide, competitive basis to meet federal Clean Water Act standards for controlling transportation-generated pollution.