$100 Million May Fight Beach Fouling

Gov. Gray Davis is proposing to spend $100 million in a new effort to combat pollution from sewage spills and storm drains that resulted in 5,000 beach closures and warnings about contamination in 1999, administration officials said Thursday.

Parts of Newport Beach had 256 closures or posted warnings in 1999, officials said. Huntington Beach had 158, and portions of Santa Monica Beach had 62.

Officials said they hope that with $100 million, they can reduce the number of beach closures and postings about pollution-related hazards by a fourth, and perhaps by half, within a year and a half.

The officials, speaking on the condition that they not be identified, said the $100-million beach pollution initiative will be included in the governor’s $100-billion-plus budget package, which he will release Wednesday.

The Legislature will hold hearings on the governor’s overall budget plan later this year.

Administration officials said the decision about where to allocate the money will be made by the state Water Resources Control Board.

But the bulk of the pollution-related warnings and closures occur in Southern California.

Most of the problems result from runoff along city streets during storms or from sewage spills at treatment plants.

Officials said the problem may be worse than the 5,000 incidents reported in 1999. But to determine the extent of the problem, the state needs to expand its monitoring.