As a coastal City, Dana Point maintains a strong interest in protecting the ocean, local beaches and the marine environment which contribute to the unique quality of life enjoyed by the community. In fact, one of the City’s 5 Strategic Goals is to Preserve & Enhance Environmental Health & Sustainability. A handful of the City’s active sustainability/environmentally-friendly programs are listed below.

• The City has been a leader in water quality for the past 20 years, and continues to be, with a robust water quality program, including water quality management requirements for development projects, operation and maintenance of water quality structures to capture litter and trash, nuisance water diversions and the award-winning Salt Creek Ozone Treatment Facility, a comprehensive street sweeping program, education and outreach, inspections, code enforcement, and pollution investigations. The City also has an Ocean Water Quality Subcommittee to advise City Council on water quality-related topics, foster partnerships with organizations, agencies and Cities and review programs and progress to determine where additional efforts are needed.
• The City provides our residents and businesses with a comprehensive waste management program to facilitate proper disposal and reduction of waste including curbside household hazardous waste pick-up, free prescription, battery and compact fluorescent light bulb drop offs, and food waste composting. The City’s expanded polystyrene (EPS aka Styrofoam) ban and the Single-Use Plastic Bag ban are two environmental programs to reduce waste at the source and reduce the environmental impacts related to these single-use products.The majority of the City’s parks and medians are watered with recycled water and controlled via “smartimer” controllers. The City selects drought-tolerant plant palettes and converts existing landscaping to drought tolerant in a phased approach. The City works with the water districts to promote water conservation programs.
• The City has installed solar panels at the Nature Interpretive Center and Community Center and has made upgrades to LED lighting, motion sensors, smart thermostats. The City’s traffic signal bulbs and fifty percent of City-owned street lights are LED. We also have solar powered radar speed trailers and electronic message boards.
• We are currently investigating grant opportunities to install more electric vehicle charging stations. Twenty percent of our City fleet are hybrid vehicles.
• The City has implemented a traffic signal synchronization or optimization system which synchronizes all of our key corridors including Pacific Coast Highway, Golden Lantern, Stonehill and Crown Valley. We are currently working with the City of Laguna Niguel to submit a grant application to upgrade equipment on PCH and Crown Valley to better synchronize intersections, and add Niguel Road.
• The City’s planning efforts are focused on encouraging walking and bicycling with the pedestrian-friendly Lantern Village revitalization project and the future planning initiative for Doheny Village. The popular Dana Point trolley program facilitates community transit to these walkable areas, and to the Dana Point Harbor as well. It also connects with neighboring cities, reducing single commuters and traffic congestion.
• A gem in Dana Point, the Nature Interpretive Center (NIC) is an enchanting place that celebrates, protects, and educates and provides sustainable access to open spaces and connecting trails with gorgeous overlooks, informational signage, and ongoing natural resource field studies. The NIC provides a variety of educational programming and experiences. It is also home to the Pacific Pocket Mouse and California Coastal Gnatcatcher, two endangered species – it’s an extraordinary resource for Dana Point.

Follow the links below for more information.

		NEW! H2OC Stormwater Program Website
		Integrated Regional Water Management Plan (IRWMP) for South Orange County (Note: Large PDF File, 58.7 MB) Navigate through the document by using the Table of Contents.
		Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Sunscreens Safer for you, safer for the environment!
		Dana Point Water Quality Local Implementation Plan, July 2020 FY21-22 Annual Report (PDF) FY22-23 Annual Report (PDF) For questions or comments, please contact Lisa Zawaski at lzawaski@danapoint.org or 949-248-3584.
		South Orange County Water Quality Improvement Plan (WQIP) South Orange County Water Quality Improvement Plan webpage
		Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plan
		Solid Waste & Recycling
		Ocean Water Quality/Runoff  San Juan Creek Watershed Guidebook
		BMP Requirements for Construction Projects
		Water Quality Requirements for Development Projects
		Water Conservation
		Street Sweeping
		For Kids
		Natural Resources

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