Laguna Beach mayor says joint well project and Doheny desalination part of push for local water reliability

Mayor Alex Winoghe said Laguna Beach is pursuing local water-supply projects intended to increase reliability and reduce ratepayer costs.

On Fair Game Laguna, Winoghe said the city is in the entitlement phase for a well in Fountain Valley and negotiating a joint powers agreement with the City of Newport Beach to build it. “That’s gonna provide two thirds of the water district’s water supply and lower ratepayer cost $5,000,000 a year,” Winoghe said.

Winoghe also said the city has “an agreement for the Doheny desalination project” through work with South Coast Water District. He framed both projects as part of a broader local-water-reliability strategy and said those steps are intended to reduce dependence on more distant supplies.

Winoghe cautioned the water-challenge contest the city had been promoting is largely a public-participation survey and said, regardless of contest results, the city is pursuing infrastructure to secure local supply. He did not provide a timeline for construction, final cost estimates, or detailed technical reports during the interview.

The mayor presented the supply and cost figures as estimates; he attributed the supply-share and $5 million per year cost estimate to the projects under negotiation. The interview did not include supporting documents or a specific contractual text; it did not state whether agreements are finalized, what approvals are required, or how costs would be allocated among agencies or ratepayers.