O.C. Beach Ranks as Swell

Newport Beach is one of the 10 best urban beaches in the United States, according to a report by the Surfrider Foundation released Thursday, despite the region’s well-known water quality woes.

The city was one of three California communities to make the list--along with East Beach in Santa Barbara and Main Beach in Santa Cruz--as spots where there is a “peaceful coexistence” between healthy shorelines and urban development, according to the advocacy group’s State of the Beach report. Other top spots include South Beach in Florida, Cape May in New Jersey and Waikiki in Hawaii.

While environmentalists and even the public might not think of Waikiki or Newport Beach as pristine, the two areas have taken steps to keep their seawater healthier and their beaches cleaner despite explosive development, heavy population increases and heavy tourist use, the study found.

“They’ve done a good job keeping their beaches nourished and well-maintained,” said Christopher J. Evans, executive director of the San Clemente-based Surfrider Foundation, an environmental advocacy group that began as a surfers group. He added that all urban beaches still have further to go. The study, he said, is meant “to recognize beaches that try, and at least are doing some things right.”

South Beach topped the list, Santa Barbara’s East Beach placed fourth, Newport Beach fifth, and Santa Cruz’s Main Beach ninth. California, where nearly three-quarters of the population lives in coastal counties, had more beaches on the list than any state.

Bob Caustin of Defend the Bay questioned the inclusion of Newport Beach because of extreme pollution in Newport Bay.

He also called the western part of the city “abysmal” because of pollution from the Santa Ana River.

“We’ve got a ways to go to make it what it should be,” Caustin said.

Evans didn’t dispute those points, noting that most urban beaches have issues that must be dealt with.

“We’re not saying these beaches don’t have problems,” Evans said. “They have challenges and we’re working on it.”

Public access and facilities at all state beaches ranked extremely high, something that activists credit to the landmark 1972 Coastal Act and the creation of the California Coastal Commission.

“It was groundbreaking, leading-edge legislation,” said Evans, adding that most states do not afford such protection to their coastlines.

Susan Jordan, board member of the League for Coastal Protection, agreed: “One of the reasons we fare so well is we have the great fortune of having the Coastal Act, which was one of the most important developments in, I think, the state’s legislative history.”

The survey used information readily available to the public by telephone or the Internet. Water quality information is available at www.surfrider.org.

California, along with Hawaii, North Carolina and South Carolina, also had the most easily accessible information. California received high marks for providing information to the public about beach access, water quality and surfing areas.

Such information was lacking in other coastal states. About 71% of information rankings were either unavailable, or difficult to obtain or understand, the report said.

“This is a system that is systematically eliminating the public from effectively participating in coastal zone management practices, a process that explicitly requires public participation,” Evans said.

The Surfrider study, funded by a $100,000 grant from the Mazda North American Operations in Irvine, is the first in what is expected to be a series of annual reports on the nation’s coast.

Despite the bright spots, Evans said, the results should also serve as a wake-up call to officials, because the vast majority of the 16 coastal states studied have serious beach problems.

Local Surfrider chapters studied access, water quality, shoreline structures, erosion, sand replenishment and surfing areas.

About 74% of the rankings of these factors were average or below. North Carolina ranked the best. Maine, Virginia and Washington ranked lowest.

In California, areas of concern include water quality and shoreline structures such as jetties that disrupt natural sand movement in the ocean and cause beach erosion. In 1998, the state had 3,273 beach closure days, which are counted as the numbers of days an individual beach is closed. In 1991, the number was 745.

The 1998 numbers were much higher because of El Nino rains, stepped-up bacteria monitoring and stricter health standards, the report said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Places in the Sun

Three California beaches made a recent list of top 10 urban beaches, based on a variety of categories including water quality, access and surfing conditions.

Top 10 Urban Beaches

1) South Beach, Miami Beach

2) Waikiki Beach, Honolulu

3) Panama City Beach, Florida

4) East Beach, Santa Barbara

5) Newport Beach

6) Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

7) South Padre Island, Texas

8) Cape May, New Jersey

9) Main Beach, Santa Cruz

10) Seaside Beach, Oregon

Sources: Surfrider Foundation’s first State of the Beaches report.