Orange County Waterways
Your County Is Poisoning Your Creek.
Over 100,000 gallons of herbicide sprayed into OC creeks every year.
No notice. No accountability. Operating under a zombie permit.
This Is Happening
Right Now.
Gallons of Herbicide Per Year
OC Flood Control sprays over 105,000 gallons of herbicide into OC creeks and rivers every year — that's more than 180 fire trucks full of chemicals dumped into local waterways.
Residents Notified
No residents. No businesses. Nobody living alongside San Juan Creek is told when spraying happens. Most people have no idea.
Years on a Zombie Permit
The county's state herbicide permit expired in 2018. They claim it's "administratively continued" under federal law — no renewal, no review, no expiration date in sight.
Endangered Steelhead Left
Only about 177 Southern California steelhead trout remain — and the county is spraying herbicide directly into their federally designated critical habitat during migration season.
Expired in 2018.
Still in Use Today.
The county sprays herbicide under General Order 2013-0002-DWQ — a state permit that expired on November 30, 2018. That was over seven years ago. There is no new permit. No renewal application has been produced in response to public records requests. No updated environmental review has taken place.
So how is this legal? The county claims the permit is "administratively continued" under a federal regulation (40 CFR § 122.6) that allows expired permits to remain in effect when a renewal is pending. The idea is to protect permit holders from gaps when regulators are slow to act.
But that regulation has two requirements: the permit holder must have filed a timely renewal application before the permit expired, and the delay must be the regulator's fault, not the applicant's. After seven years, neither condition has been demonstrated.
We call it a zombie permit — technically dead, still walking, and the county has not explained how or when it ends.
Spraying Herbicide
Into Critical Habitat.
The Southern California steelhead trout is one of the most endangered fish populations on the West Coast. Only about 177 individuals remain. The species has been federally listed as endangered since 1997, and California added its own state endangered listing in April 2024.
San Juan Creek and Trabuco Creek are designated critical habitat under the federal recovery plan. eDNA sampling confirmed steelhead presence in Trabuco Creek as recently as August 2024. During the rainy season, steelhead migrate up these creeks to spawn — the same creeks where the county applies herbicide.
The county told residents it "does not spray between December and April due to trout migrations." But records show that in January 2025 — right in the middle of that migration window — the county applied Roundup Custom (glyphosate) across approximately 70 acres of creek bed.
The county's own permit states: "This General Permit does not authorize any take of endangered species." No evidence of ESA consultation, biological opinion, or incidental take permit has been produced. Just herbicide, applied directly in the habitat of a fish on the brink of extinction.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told the county to stop removing vegetation and invest in restoration. The county never acted on it — and kept spraying.
How We Got Here
San Juan Creek Is Irreplaceable
San Juan Creek is the last remaining unpaved riparian corridor connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Santa Ana Mountains in south Orange County. It's critical habitat for fish, birds, and protected species. It's a major groundwater recharge area for local water districts. It drains directly into Doheny State Beach and the surf zones people swim in every day.
This doesn't even begin to cover the ecological toll these actions take on other rivers across the county, including the vital Santa Ana River.
The County Sprays Massive Amounts of Herbicide
Orange County Public Works, through its Flood Control District, applies over 8 tons of herbicide to San Juan Creek twice per year as a vegetation management measure. The chemicals — Ecomazapyr 2SL, Triclopyr 3, and Hasten EA — can flow into groundwater, wetlands, beaches, and the ocean. This practice is replicated across the county. If you live near a creek or river, chances are, they are spraying there too.
These actions strip the creek of protective vegetation, accelerate erosion, and leave concrete panels and levees exposed — the exact opposite of what federal engineers recommended.
The Army Corps Said Stop. The County Didn't.
A comprehensive U.S. Army Corps of Engineers watershed study warned that decades of vegetation removal had weakened banks and channel stability, increased scour raising the risk of levee collapse, and caused declining water quality threatening Doheny State Beach.
The Corps strongly recommended large-scale revegetation and habitat restoration. The County never implemented these recommendations.
Documentation Failures
Public records requests have revealed failures in chain of custody procedures for water quality samples taken before and after herbicide applications. Without proper chain of custody, there is no way to verify sampling results are accurate or untampered with.
What This Means for You
Higher risk of levee failure during major storms. Continued destruction of wildlife habitat across the county. Exposure to large quantities of herbicide without warning or consent. Degraded water quality at beaches and downstream areas. Unanswered questions about the long-term impact on local water quality — concerns that extend to communities along every affected waterway in Orange County.
Make Your
Voice Heard.
Public pressure works. Contact your county officials and demand they halt unnecessary herbicide spraying across all county waterways and invest in the restoration plan the Army Corps recommended.
Volunteer
Want to get involved? We need people on the ground — sign up and join the team.
Sign Up to VolunteerCounty Supervisor
katrina.foley@ocgov.comOC Supervisor Katrina Foley — Ask her to investigate herbicide practices across OC waterways and require resident notification before any spraying.
Flood Control District
Amanda.Carr@ocpw.ocgov.comOCFCD Deputy Director Amanda Carr — Ask OCFCD to halt all spraying until a current permit is issued for county waterways and to implement the Army Corps restoration plan.