Urban Runoff Effort Could Cost Billions, Official Says

Curtailing urban runoff--the suspected cause of high bacteria levels in the ocean off Huntington Beach--could take more than 15 years and cost the state billions of dollars, a state water official told an Assembly committee Wednesday.

Such a statewide effort would involve identifying the sources of pollution inland, such as dairies and even cities, and measuring how much each contributes to runoff, said John Norton, a Water Resources Control Board executive.

“We identified most areas in Southern California, but we have to go beyond just where the sources are,” Norton told the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources at a hearing in San Diego. “In some areas, it will take 15 years or longer.”

The problem, he explained, is exacerbated by large areas of watershed stretching 75 to 100 miles from the ocean. Under a bill signed into law last week, the water resources board must report to the Legislature by March 31, 2001, on the methods the board will use to investigate upstream urban runoff.

Norton said it would take extreme steps by legislators to free up money and reduce the 15-year estimate. Environmentalists accused the state of dragging its feet on water pollution.

Norton’s testimony disappointed Jack Miller, Orange County’s director of environmental health.

Miller said before the meeting that he hoped the water resources board would take the lead in helping find a solution to the mysterious high bacteria levels that have plagued Huntington Beach.

But after hearing Norton’s testimony, Miller said it isn’t likely the county will ask the board to take over. Norton said the board did not want to take the lead but would remain a member of a task force.

Health officials closed up to 4.2 miles of Huntington Beach oceanfront to swimmers and surfers for two months this summer, inconveniencing beach-goers and the stores that cater to them.

County officials did not officially determine that urban runoff was the cause of the high bacteria levels, but they said they believe it was.

Those testifying Wednesday said a beach monitoring law implemented this summer increases water quality testing and public information on water quality.

Both have been lacking, they said.

But criticism is expected today in Huntington Beach where Republican Assembly leader Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) will hold an informal hearing.

Baugh, who favors monitoring ocean water for quality, dislikes Department of Health Services regulations that he says give too much discretion to county health officials to close and reopen beaches.

Technically, the beach monitoring law still can be changed. The bill was passed in 1997, but regulations giving health officials discretionary powers will not be permanent until 120 days after the law was implemented, which was July 26.