Is the notorious pond at Poche Beach shrinking? Probably not

No, the notoriously polluted pond at Poche Beach isn’t shrinking. You may have noticed recently that the pond, located on the border of Dana Point and San Clemente, appeared to be getting dramatically smaller.
A pipe from a $3 million filtration system built by the county to clean urban runoff was no longer depositing filtered water into the pond, where the water could sit and stagnate.
The pond had shrunk so the discharge pipe was seaward of the pond, discharging either onto the beach or