Pollution Status of Beaches in Flux

The surf is clean. The surf is polluted. It’s clean. It’s dirty. Or is it clean again?

Starting in stutter steps, polluted-beach warnings flashed on and off like traffic signals the past two days at Ventura County beaches.

The first postings to protect people from disease-causing microbes remain in effect over the weekend at two beaches--Surfers Point and Channel Islands Beach Park--under the county’s ocean water quality program.

However, one of those beaches may be declared safe today, depending on new test results. Or it may not be.

Safe? Dangerous? Or what?

So began the long-awaited ocean testing program that surfers, health experts and some business leaders had demanded to promote tourism and improve health. The Board of Supervisors in September directed the county Environmental Health Division to begin weekly tests--which began this month--and to post warnings when bacteria reach unsafe levels. Until now, Ventura County was the only Southern California county that lacked such a program.

The tests were clean until Thursday morning, when they revealed excessive contamination at Surfers Point, Channel Islands Beach Park and Promenade Park beach. Up went blaze-yellow, dirty-water signs at all three beaches.

But officials took the signs down at Promenade Park beach Friday afternoon after another round of tests showed that the contaminated water had cleared out overnight. Stay-out-of-the-water signs remain at Channel Islands Beach Park near the end of Victoria Avenue, but they could be removed later today if a second battery of tests results are favorable.

Meanwhile, Surfers Point remains closed, but most people would never know it by looking. Surfers took to the waves in droves on a sunny Friday afternoon. Near the Holiday Inn, many ambled down stairs to the rocky beach, board in hand and oblivious to the water conditions. There wasn’t a sign within eyeshot.

“I didn’t hear anything about it,” said Jason Alberts of Ventura, shaking sand and saltwater out of his hair.

“This is not good. It’s pretty sad,” said surfer Linda Swader of Ojai as she headed for the water. Is she scared of pollution? “Naw,” she said. “I’ll shower afterward. I’ll take my chances. Surfing is addicting.”

Richard R. Hauge, Ventura County’s coordinator of the ocean water quality program, said two signs were posted at Surfers Point near the mouth of the Ventura River, the spot where tests showed contamination exceeded health limits by 44%.

“Beach posting is a difficult thing to do,” Hauge said. “People go into the water from up and down the beach. We’re trying to do the best we can.”

He acknowledged that the procedure for posting beaches may lead to confusion, but added that the health department is trying to provide the most accurate and current information on water conditions.

Don’t count on clarity any time soon. Hauge said the on-again, off-again warnings could become commonplace. “This is how we have to do it,” he said. “We’ll sample on Mondays and Tuesdays and post the beaches if there’s a problem. As soon as we get re-sampling results back, we’ll take signs down.”

The county tests shallow water at 52 locations along a 42-mile stretch of coast. The test sites are near storm drains, where runoff carries pollution to the ocean. The annual cost of the beach-monitoring program is expected to be $207,000.

When pollution levels are high, warnings are posted at beaches, on a Web site--https://www.ventura. org/env--hlth/env.htm--and on a hotline, 805-662-6555.

“I just hope this is a step toward solving the problem,” said Derek Turner, president of the Ventura-based Full Sail Windsurfing Club. “If Ventura County is going to be a tourist site, we’re going to need clean water.”