Newport beaches make clean-beach grade, mostly

Alicia Robinson

Eleven stretches of sand and several parts of Newport Harbor had

clean water this summer, but a bacteria hot spot -- the harbor at

38th Street -- was ranked among Orange County’s worst beaches in a

report from Heal the Bay.

The 2004 summer beach report card, issued Thursday by the Santa

Monica-based environmental group, measured bacteria levels during dry

weather between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Heal the Bay gave grades

of A+ to the water quality at 15 Newport beaches, including 52nd/53rd

streets, The Wedge, Lido Isle’s Via Genoa beach and Crystal Cove at

Los Trancos Canyon.

But a few harbor beaches scored poorly, with the Harbor Patrol

beach and 43rd Street beach earning Ds and the 38th Street beach

receiving an F.

The harbor did fare better this summer than in 2003, when seven of

22 spots monitored were given Ds or Fs.

The Santa Ana River mouth, where a spill occurred on Labor Day

that turned out to be far larger than originally reported, also

ranked poorly.

Statewide, coastal water quality was good this summer, with 88% of

436 beaches clean and safe for swimming all summer long. Nearly 87%

of Orange County beaches were considered clean this summer.

“The beaches were really clean again this summer, which we’re

really happy about,” said Shelley Luce, Heal the Bay’s science and

policy director. “The bacteria levels were really low.”

Water quality tends to vary in Newport Beach, with the worst water

quality usually occurring in the harbor and around the Santa Ana

River mouth, where bacteria and pollutants from inland runoff can

collect. The Orange County Health Care Agency in April issued an

advisory that some fish species in the bay may contain high levels of

pesticides and other contaminants.

Poor water quality in the harbor at the 38th Street area could be

coming from various sources, Newport Beach Assistant City Manager

Dave Kiff said.

“Part of our problem in knowing what’s wrong is it’s a fairly

difficult area to study,” he said.

About 20 storm drains terminate there, and bacteria flourish

because water doesn’t circulate well, Kiff said. To counteract that,

the city is testing a device to help water circulate, and it seems to

be working well, he said.

The new device is part of the city’s overall efforts to improve

water quality, which have brought the number of chronic bacteria hot

spots from five or six down to two, Kiff said.

“I think that the city has really made some strides, and not just

in the last couple of years,” said Nancy Gardner, a surfer and

president of the Newport Beach chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a

nonprofit group that promotes clean oceans and beaches. “I think in

the last few years, there’s been such a great awareness of all the

urban runoff impact on the bay and the ocean. ...I don’t want to

suggest that there’s not things that we need to do and to continue to

improve on, but there’s quite an awareness on the city’s part.”

Surfrider is working with the city of Costa Mesa to create a

system of ponds to naturally filter water before it gets into the

ocean, Gardner said. The city of Newport Beach also is hoping in

spring 2005 to build its first natural treatment system to clean

pollutants from urban runoff, Kiff said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at

[email protected].