Don’t Let It Reach The Beach
Polluted Stormwater Runoff Can Make Going Beach A Bummer
By: Gags Bisla
Imagine waking up on a bright sunny day after finishing up an extensive school year filled with homework, exams and deadlines and deciding to drive down the CA-60 Freeway west towards Santa Monica or I-605 South toward Huntington Beach.
The windows are rolled down as the wind washes through your hair. Justin Bieber is singing “Baby, Baby” on the radio in the background. Next, you roll up to the beach with the sun shining bright on you and the sand deep between your toes while you step closer to the almost-heaven, bright blue water.
You notice, for some reason, that hardly anyone else is out taking advantage of the day in this so SoCal way. Then, as the cold-water rushes over your feet, you see the blue has a darkish grey hue to it. Then, you notice the sign posted in the sand. Beach Closed.
The water is polluted with oil, grease, chemicals, and bacteria following the recent rainstorm. Another perfect day, spoiled by stormwater pollution.
People plan their dates, their exercise routines and even their marriage proposals around visits to the worlds beaches. Beaches are used for a multitude of reasons every of every year, everywhere shore and sea come together. Beaches face many threat — from sand erosion to wetlands decline. But one factor that puts beaches in jeopardy that you might not think about is the water itself — polluted water from runoff.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as polluted water runoff moves through our drains and sewers and eventually makes its to the oceans, close-to-shore water quality can be degraded, often resulting in beach closures due to unhealthy water conditions.
There’s more at risk from polluted stormwater runoff than just beach closings. Polluted stormwater can cause algae blooms, fish kills, heightened levels of bacteria and a host of other issues. People are also at risk as well. If we come in contact with polluted water, whether by swimming or other means, the EPA says we risk of getting gastroenteritis, which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and more. Ear infections and even staph infections are hazards that come from toxic runoff entering our marine systems.
A water quality scientist with Heal the Bay, Annelisa Moe has been working on mitigating the effects of stormwater runoff for years. Heal the Bay is an environmental advocacy group based in Santa Monica, California whose focus is protecting coastal waters and watersheds of Southern California. Moe has always been an outdoor person who loves the water, whether its rivers, lakes, or ocean beaches. She says she sees her role at Heal the Bay as keeping “L.A. water clean and safe by advocating for comprehensive and science-based water quality regulation and enforcement.”
According to Moe, stormwater “runs over roofs, sidewalks, and streets where it picks up contamination such as heavy metals, pesticides, trash, bacteria and so much more.” Los Angeles, she noted, has a storm-drain system that is separate from our sewers, which is meant to prevent the stormwater from flooding the sewer system and vice versa. The downside, though, is this system means our stormwater goes into our rivers and oceans without being cleaned first. The cement-bottom channels we use as safeguards against flooding don’t help because the runoff goes right to the bays without passing through natural filtration systems such as sand, rocks, and wetlands. Pollutants carried by the runoff include used motor oil, fertilizers and bacteria, including staph and possibly even e coli.
Moe emphasized that the toxins discussed above go into our surface waters along with trash that can cause wildlife to become entangled in plastic or can enter their digestive tracts,which can be fatal. Run off contaminants can have toxic effects that not only harm the wildlife, but ecosystems and people, too Toxic, untreated wastewater from stormwater pollution is a major reason for beach closures all over California.
For example, over New Year’s weekend, following a series of late-December storms, seven million gallons of untreated wastewater spilled into local bays when sewage and storm drain couldn’t contain the collapse of a sewer main in Carson, California. The heavy rainfalls in December caused a section of the Los Angeles sewage system to collapse, which sent toxic, untreated water to an already overwhelmed storm-drain system that flushed into local waters. Beaches from Huntington Beach in the south to Rancho Palos Verdes in the north were closed. This is what Moe said would happen if the stormwater pollution overwhelmed our systems. “When it comes to climate resilient ecosystems and communities, a healthy environment is key,” says Moe.
So, what can you do about it?
You can start by helping from the comfort of your own home. This could involve, as Moe says, “removing trash before it gets to waterways, making sure your car is not leaking any oil or even picking up your pet’s waste.” You are not limited to just making changes around your home. Moe suggests joining multi-benefit projects focused on improving actual water quality which, “Unfortunately not changed much yet in the four years I have been with Heal the Bay,” she says.
Anyone can be a part of those systemic changes by joining heal the bay lets-take-la-by-storm campaign for updates specifically regarding stormwater permits, such as the MS4 permit. These MS4 permits require waste dischargers to develop and implement a Storm Water Management Plan with the goal of reducing the dishcharge of pollutants to the maximum extent possible. Additionally, you could also help with systemic changes by joining as a member of the public for multi-benefit projects funded through Heal the Bay’s Safe Clean Water program.
Some of the safe clean water programs will include “modernizing the 100-year-old water system infrastructure using a combination of nature, science, and new technology, or updating LA County’s water system to capture more of the billions of gallons of water we lose each year…”
These are just a few steps that people can take to saving beaches in Southern California. Stormwater pollution is not something that can be fixed in a day, week, month, or even a year. It will take some time, especially since the “overall average of water quality in the area has stayed about the same over the past few years” according to Moe.
However, in an annual survey of more than 500 beaches, Heal The Bay reported that 92 percent of state beaches had logged good water quality marks between April-October 2019. The increase of water quality could have been due to the Safe Clean Water Program, legislation passed in 2019 that generates up to $285 million dollars per year from a “special parcel tax of 2.5 cents per square foot of impermeable surface area on private property in the LA County Flood Control District.” The renewing revenue source allows the program to fund new projects over the next five years to help against stormwater pollution.
The problem of stormwater pollution is not an overnight fix nor is it as simple as black and white as there are some gray areas involved. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to how stormwater pollution can be decreased whether that is with citizens doing their part in their homes, or organizations like Heal the Bay working on the front lines.
There is more than one way to have an impact. So, the next time you are on the beach, remember that whether the water is crystal blue or fouled with pollutants is, in many ways, up to you.
