City hopes to get Measure V projects underway
Santa Monica Beach continues to earn the distinction of being one of the dirtiest in the state, a result of an aging urban runoff system and water contaminated by fecal-dropping birds.
The Natural Resources Defense Council released its annual water quality report on Tuesday, finding that the county is home to seven of the most polluted beaches in the state, among the largest offenders being Avalon on Catalina Island and the Santa Monica Pier.
It’s a hardly surprising finding given the performance of the notoriously dirty water surrounding the pier, which also received poor marks on previous studies, including Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card released in May.
“The primary factor in this region is it’s highly urbanized and most runoff developed over paved surfaces go over the curbside straight into the ocean with no treatment,” Noah Garrison, a project attorney with the NRDC, said regarding conditions in the county. “The local government and county government really need to be doing more to protect the watershed.”
Avalon and Santa Monica Beach both reported a high percentage of samples in which the water quality failed state standards, indicating an unhealthy level of bacteria, leading to numerous closures.
Out of all the beaches on the mainland, Santa Monica had the highest percentage of water quality tests that exhibited an unacceptable level of fecal bacteria.
“There is waste that comes from animal waste such as birds at the beach,” Garrison said.
Shannon Parry, the sustainable city program manager for City Hall, said the biggest culprits are the pigeons that live near the pier, defecating on the beach sand which is where the bacteria primarily builds up.
A number of recent studies found that the beach sand often serves as a reservoir for the bacteria population to grow, Parry added.
“The tide moves the sand around, which is why we’re seeing exceedances in much shallower water,” she said.
City Hall is working with different animal rights groups and municipalities experiencing a similar problem to find an effective and humane solution.
But not all news is bad for the local beaches, which saw a drop in the number of closures in the past year.
There were nearly 1,700 closures in the county in 2007, down 18 percent from the previous year. The county did still have the highest number of closing and advisory days in the state for the fifth straight year.
The reason for the drop can be attributed to the drought in recent years.
“No rain can’t be a solution for the county to address the beach pollution,” Garrison said.
Mike Grimmer, the beach report card manager for Heal the Bay, said he didn’t find any surprises in this year’s report, but saw an anomaly in the section pertaining to the water off Santa Monica Canyon, which was listed in the top 10 worst.
Grimmer said the report didn’t differentiate between wet and dry weather conditions at the beach near the canyon, pointing out that the bacteria level is more moderate during the summer months.
“The summer months is not as bad,” Grimmer said. “There’s a diversion in place that is operational.”
During the dry season, which is defined as between the months of April and October, the storm drain is filled with sand so there is no flow headed into the beach. Runoff is otherwise diverted for reuse at the Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility or treated at the Hyperion plant.
City Hall has been working on reducing the occasions when sampling shows high bacteria levels, hoping to get urban runoff and storm drain projects soon underway.
The projects, which will be funded under Measure V, a $20 million ballot measure that passed in 2006, will enhance storm water mitigation and prevention strategies. The first measure-related expenditure took place a few months ago when a $250,000 contract was awarded to Psomas to make initial upgrades to the storm drain.
Candidates for the Measure V Oversight Committee are currently being selected.
The report’s poor marks in Santa Monica didn’t seem to affect beach-goers on Tuesday.
“I heard about that report, but we don’t come here very often, so I’ll still go in the water,” Linnea Lieberman, a former Santa Monica resident said.
Lieberman brought her toddler to the beach for the first time since she was two months old.
“It’s dirty and I don’t want to drink it, but I’ll swim in it,” she said.
The report did come as a surprise to others.
Maarten Vinengelen, a tourist from Holland, said he was expecting to see a nice beach during his visit.
“I met a guy from Santa Monica and he said this was one of the best beaches,” Vinengelen said. “If I was wearing a swimsuit, I would definitely go in.”
Alexandra Bissonnette contributed to this report
Jump hedline: City Hall hopes to get Measure V projects underway soon
Suggested pullquote: “It’s dirty and I don’t want to drink it, but I’ll swim in it.”
Linnea Lieberman
Lucida Grande 40, 4 0 400 0¬ 1 0 40, Minion 40, 4 0 231A 0¬ 1 0 40,
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 30, 2008. Read the original PDF.