Polluted Aliso Excluded from Top-Beach Score
By ANDREA ADELSON
Laguna Beach was singled out among the five cleanest beaches in the nation, according to the 18th annual beach water quality report released Tuesday by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The rating, however, omitted test results from the county's Aliso Beach, also part of Laguna's coastline, which daily is deluged with five million gallons of urban runoff from what is considered an impaired watershed, Aliso Creek.
Aliso Beach was closed for 12 days in 2007 for contamination, according to the county's annual ocean water quality report, issued in March.
NRDC based its report on information provided by the state, which did not include information for Aliso and several other California beaches, said spokeswoman Jessica Lass in Los Angeles.
Local water quality advocates agreed that the absence of Aliso Beach water sampling from Laguna Beach's overall rating is likely to convey an unrealistically positive snapshot.
"It's an omission of something important," said Will Holoman, Laguna Beach's senior water quality analyst. "It should be on the list. But it's no Doheny," he said, referring to Doheny State Beach, which remains the dirtiest in the county with 33 percent of water samples exceeding state standards, according to the NRDC report.
"It stinks that it's not there," added Greg O'Loughlin, chair of the city's environmental committee, referring to Aliso Beach. Nevertheless, he pointed out that the NRDC's five-star rating gives extra weight not for water purity, but for jurisdictions that regularly monitor quality and rapidly inform visitors with postings when contamination is present. "Aliso might still make the list," O'Loughlin said, because it is well-monitored and posted.
Aliso Beach, one of the highest used in the county, also hosts an international skim boarding contest, held July 26 and 27.
Yet, little more than a mile offshore Aliso is the South Coast Water District's outfall pipe, daily pumping 20 million gallons of treated effluent. "I can't see how we can represent the best of Southern California," said local resident Michael Beanan, who has pressed water district officials to divert more runoff from Aliso Beach.
NRDC data relies on samples examined for viruses and bacteria, which indicates the presence of human and animal feces from sewage spills and storm runoff, but fails to measure the presence of phosphates, present in fertilizers and herbicides that contribute to algae blooms Beanan said. "It's not a sophisticated indicator of water health," he said of NRDC's methodology.
Along seven miles of Laguna Beach's shoreline, the NRDC report indicated five areas - Crystal Cove, Crescent Bay, Emerald Bay, Main Beach and Thousand Steps - where 0 percent of water samples exceeded state water quality standards for pathogens. At Bluebird Beach and near Hotel Laguna, 4 percent of samples exceeded standards, at Treasure Island, 2 percent, and Blue Lagoon and Victoria Beach, 1 percent, respectively.
Monitors collected samples for fecal coliform bacteria and enterococcus, pathogens that can cause flu like symptoms, eye infections, rashes and more serious health problems like hepatitis.
Top-rated beaches, according to the NRDC, were awarded five stars in five categories, including a rapid response to pollution. Other top cities were Hawaii's Poipu Beach and New York's Hampton Beach.
Nationwide, the NRDC documented the second-highest number of beach closing and advisory days since monitoring began nearly 20 years ago. The most contaminated beaches were found on the Great Lakes.
In California, water testing takes place on two-thirds of the state's 422 beaches.
"Preventing contamination is the best tool for protecting human and aquatic life," the report says, noting that communities need to spend smarter by preserving and enhancing wetlands, and using soil and vegetation to reduce beachwater pollution.
"We have tons of diversions all over town," pointed out Holoman. "We work really hard at it."
