COUNTYWIDE : O.C. Gets Welcome Help for Water-Testing Program

The county expects to save $100,000 on its ocean water monitoring program this year thanks to the efforts of some special districts and the Surfrider Foundation, officials said this week.

The weekly testing, which is designed to detect pollution, was halted for several months earlier this year because of the county’s financial crisis.

But monitoring resumed this summer under a plan that relies on the help of the Sanitation Districts of Orange County and several water districts, said Larry Paul, coastal manager for the county’s Environmental Management Agency.

Before the bankruptcy, the county spent about $180,000 to test water along the coast as well as at Huntington Harbour, Newport Bay and Dana Point Harbor. The tests measure several bacteria including fecal coliform, which is an indicator of sewage and filth.

The Sanitation Districts of Orange County also monitors ocean water. In order to help the county bring down costs, the district agreed to conduct extra tests and provide the county with the data, Paul said. The Surfrider Foundation plans to use some grant money to help pay for monitoring as well. Because of these contributions, the county will spend only $80,000 on the program this year.

Paul said the monitoring is important because it allows officials to detect pollution as well as measure historical trends in water quality.

“If you are looking for problems with the water, you ought to be testing,” Paul said. “You don’t know if you don’t test.”