NO TESTING: Orange County’s bankruptcy has led...

NO TESTING: Orange County’s bankruptcy has led to the halt of weekly water quality testing at 120 spots along the county’s 42-mile coastline. The threat of bacteria has surfers and lifeguards upset. San Clemente-based Surfrider Foundation plans to expand its Teach and Test program now at two Orange County high schools to encourage ocean water testing by students. . . . Surfrider’s Pierce Flynn says, “We’re going to try to get an army of young coastal watchdogs.” Lifeguards plan to lobby the Board of Supervisors, through their state association, to resume testing.

NO SAND: The crisis also has jeopardized coastal sand replenishment by the Army Corps of Engineers. . . . While officials worry about money, one alternative being mentioned is an artificial reef. The state Department of Parks and Recreation for years has sponsored artificial reefs using such items as old concrete blocks. Gary Ross of Highwave Inc. in Oxnard has patented a reef made from plastic and says the design has worked in lab wave tanks. “If you put a reef offshore,” says Ross, “you lessen erosive action on the beach and help stabilize it by forcing waves to break offshore.”

WARNING: Sean Collins of Wavetrak/Surfline, who makes a living forecasting waves for surfers, has been hired by Surfside’s Storm Water Protection Tax District in Seal Beach to warn residents of advancing storms and high tides. . . . “At this point,” says Collins, “all they need is one or two good storms in there at the right tide, and they have an extreme probability and a very serious possibility for damages to homes.”

CUT AGAIN: After three years and $220,000 in cutbacks for Huntington Beach lifeguards before the county crisis, the budget knife is out--again. A county fund for rescue operations is in jeopardy because of the crisis. “We’ve cut our marine safety operation already,” says Jim Engle, who manages the city beaches. “Now, we’re going to have to reduce by another $70,000. It means we’ll start cutting lifeguard towers and reducing maintenance. This impacts public safety.”