Fouled Coast: All Can Heed a City’s Lessons

What does a city do when it finds its most precious asset being degraded? What does it do when urban runoff causes this asset to be either posted or closed because high bacteria counts have been detected in ocean waters?

What happens to a place called Surf City, a city with 8 1/2 miles of pristine beaches, a city known for its international and national surfing contests, and a city dependent upon tourism to fuel its economy? This is what the city of Huntington Beach faced on July 2, 1999. New testing standards that raised water quality standards were signed into law (AB 411).

With the implementation of this law, coastal cities of California began having health department officials post the waters with warning signs that notified the public of bacteria levels beyond the state health standards. In some cases, cautionary signs were posted; in other cases, the waters were made off-limits to swimmers. In either case, such actions are devastating to a local coastal community.

It is an intolerable situation that must, and can, be dealt with if we all begin to recognize the problem.

Huntington Beach immediately responded to the problem. The city started testing and looking for any source that could cause higher levels of bacteria. We wanted answers, and we wanted solutions.

Along with the Orange County Sanitation District, we examined every sewage pipe along the coastline. We tested the soils to determine if there was any evidence of leaks from old pipelines.

The Sanitation District’s outfall pipe was inspected and a dye test conducted on the entire length of this pipe that extends five miles out into the ocean. Tests were run at Talbert Marsh, which empties directly into the ocean, as well as the flood control channels leading to the marsh. We inspected every pump station, but the source could not be detected. We hired two firms to do further testing of the soils, and to look more closely at the Santa Ana River and the flood control channels that empty into the marsh and the ocean. The results of these studies will be available in November, and we hope they will provide more evidence of where the pollution is coming from.

The city, the county and the Orange County Sanitation District have spent well over $2 million, with an additional $1 million in this year’s city budget and an additional $5.5 million in next year’s budget. We have diverted nine pump stations (which are designed to pump waters into flood control channels, leading to the ocean) to the sanitation district, which means that those flood control channel waters are now being treated before they are discharged into the ocean through the sanitation district’s outfall.

Through the efforts of the city, sanitation district and the county, we have achieved some measure of success this past year. The diversion of urban runoff into the sewer system is being given credit for much of the improvements we have seen since January.

We have had only isolated posting of the water along our 8 1/2 miles of coastline, usually limited to two specific areas (Magnolia and Newland streets). Only one water closure, for a three-day period, has occurred this year. We have worked successfully with state Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) and Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) to receive additional funding from the state.

It now appears that urban runoff is a major factor in the pollution of our oceans. This means that this is not just a coastal issue, but also an issue facing all of California.

We, at the coast, receive waters from an entire watershed. The runoff from inland communities, as far away as Riverside, eventually makes its way to the Santa Ana River and the flood control channels of Huntington Beach. New techniques to control this flow, and educating the public on how their daily habits affect water quality, all must take place if we are to effect a change.

If we don’t, the state is facing a crisis. Urban runoff threatens California’s tourist industry, which is a multibillion-dollar industry.

The state has issued a statewide plan developed by the state Coastal Commission and the State Water Resources Control Board. It deals with all aspects of water quality, and ways to control pollution. It addresses runoff from agricultural sources, forestry practices, urban areas, and boating and marinas.

These measures must be strengthened, followed and enforced. Additional staffing and resources have been put in place for the regional water quality control boards so that they can enforce the regulations already in place.

It is up to all of us, whether we live in a coastal city or the Inland Empire, to do our part to improve the quality of our oceans. It is an achievable goal.