Residents concerned about possible herbicide poisoning of Orange County roads have been making their voices heard on Instagram and pressured the county to hold a meeting on the issue Monday night.
Their effort exposed the tension between people who see the waterways as natural streams and county officials who see them as flood channels.
Brent Linas, a 41-year-old technology marketing director in San Juan Capistrano, introduced the Creek Team OC Instagram account after seeing changes in his performance in the streams of San Juan and Trabuco. The green reeds at the station had suddenly turned brown and lifeless, and the birds were gone.
Linas said that when district officials ignored her and dismissed her complaints, she and others turned to social media.
“We want an end to the use of herbicides in our streams,” said Linas. “This idea that we will just spray, empty these streams and leave them dead is not acceptable.”
Brent Linas walks through the leaves near Trabuco Creek where no herbicide has been sprayed.
The account gained more than 4,600 followers in three weeks. Linas and other residents have filed requests for records detailing the chemicals the county uses to control vegetation in waterways, such as glyphosate, triclopyr and imazapyr.
They posted pictures of workers spraying chemicals and used artificial intelligence to create simulations movie posters again vintage magazine adsothers have divers under the slogan “Persistent Herbicides.”
San Juan Creek meets the ocean near the popular surf break at Doheny State Beach. Linas, who often takes her two children there, said divers are angry about the spraying and are helping to make flyers.
Orange County Public Works officials defend their practices.
“Vegetation management at flood control stations is done to maintain flood control capacity and protect public safety,” said Dave Ahern, a spokesman for the agency, in an email. “When chemical treatments are used, they are used in a limited and targeted manner, consistent with applicable laws.”
The district it will hold town hall in Dana Point on Monday night to provide information and hear from the public.
District Manager Katrina Foley said generally you object using herbicides in water. His district includes San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point and the San Juan Creek and Trabuco Creek flood control stations.
Birds resting along San Juan Creek near Doheny State Beach in Dana Point.
“I would like us to use a less toxic alternative, where possible,” Foley said in an interview. At the same time, he said, the district must keep the roads clear of vegetation and fully filled to protect the neighbors. floods.
The district only uses herbicides approved by state water regulators and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and workers do not spray during nesting or when birds are at risk. Southern California steelhead trout it may be swimming upstream to spawn, said the manager.
Documents obtained by the Creek Team detail the chemicals used in 2024 “nuisance weeding” at flood control stations, or “flushing,” as many Southern Californians know it. They also show the county plans to spray herbicides on more than 2,000 acres in many channels and basins this year, including the Santa Ana River and Aliso Creek.
The State Water Resources Control Board regulates the use of herbicide strips on aquatic plants and grant approvals and the requirements for using these chemicals.
The country records show that in 2024 the district violated the rules by submitting data that was “incomplete, incorrect, or inconsistent.” Orange County Public Works wrote that they were “conducting a comprehensive review” to ensure compliance.
The state water board allows glyphosate, the main ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, to be used on plants in waterways.
The weed killer has come under scrutiny as Bayer, the manufacturer of Roundup, has faced thousands of lawsuits claiming it failed to warn people that it could cause cancer. (In February, the company announced a proposed $7.25-billion settlement to settle thousands of lawsuits from cancer patients. President Trump’s recent order to increase domestic production (of glyphosate has angered activists who had previously supported it.)
Supervisor Foley said he learned the district was using Roundup in San Juan Creek about a year ago and filed a complaint. He said the county has not used that chemical since January 2025 at the San Juan and Trabuco flood stations.
Brent Linas started a community group called The Creek Team OC to speak out on social media about the county’s use of herbicides in creeks.
A record Residents’ findings show that in July, workers sprayed various herbicides in San Juan Creek, including triclopyr and imazapyr. Adding up the listed liters, Linas calculates that they sprayed 8 tons – a figure he has used many times in the campaign with the demand “Stop the Ecocide!”
Foley said it was actually 34 pounds of herbicide “diluted with 8 tons of water,” and that officials are trying to use “the least amount” possible. He is pushing the district to consider other methods, including hand weeding or even grazing goats.
“My goal is to try to find all the ways we can avoid using chemicals,” he said.
However, he does not see them as natural streams.
“The purpose of the station is not to hold a residence,” he said. “The purpose of this station is to hold water during floods.”
Linas denied. He previously lived for years in San Diego County, where he ran on bird-filled waters among reeds, willows and sycamores.
Beachgoers play in the water at the mouth of San Juan Creek as it flows into the Pacific Ocean.
In a posted which received more than 17,000 likes, Linas asked: “Why do the rivers in Orange County look like this while the rivers in San Diego look like this?” He showed an empty stream full of squares, then a green marsh full of ducks.
San Diego County “lets rivers be rivers and nature takes care of itself,” Linas said. (A spokeswoman confirmed that San Diego County Public Works controls aquatic vegetation either manually or using machinery.)
Linas said the spraying “destroys these vital habitats” and poses health threats to people living nearby. He said at the very least, the district needs to notify the public when workers are going to spray.
