Water quality improves after dry year

Blame it on the rain.

Last year’s dry weather helped Newport Beach earn top grades for water quality, a recent report by Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay has found. The unusually dry year brought “A” grades to nearly every beach in Newport and marked a dramatic improvement for three Newport Bay beaches since last year.

“You guys look great, better than the state average,” said Mike Grimmer, environmental data analyst for Heal the Bay. “Compared to last year, there was way less rain and we definitely saw an improvement in water quality.”

The report gave “A” grades to 31 of the 32 beaches in Newport ? the eastern beach at Newport Dunes was the only to one to earn a “B” grade. Crystal Cove beaches also brought in stellar rankings, earning “A” grades from Pelican Point to El Morro.

Scientists said the unusual dry weather made for much better water quality and led to improvements at Harbor Patrol Beach and 43rd Street Beach, which received “D” grades last year, and 38th Street Beach, which earned a “C” grade in 2005. All three beaches scored “A” grades this year.

Despite the dry weather optimism, rainy weather still posed water-quality problems for beaches backing up to storm drains. Ten beaches in the Newport Area received “D” grades after rains, while 11 others received “F” grades, including the beach on the west side of Newport Dunes, the beach near the Lido Yacht Club and all the beaches stretching from Grand Canal to 15th street.

The quantity of water that flows through Orange County and into the storm drains during rain makes the flow practically impossible to treat before it washes into the ocean, Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said. Everything from pesticides to animals droppings are carried into the water system and eventually dumped into the ocean.

“Wet weather challenges are more significant because of the quantity of the flow,” he said, later adding: “It’s very difficult to take that quantity and put it through our filtration system.”

Without a large reservoir to trap and eventually treat the water before it hits the water, swimmers and surfers in the main follow the 72-hour rule ? stay out of the ocean 72 hours after it rains.

During dry weather, however, the city has several options it can employ to prevent harmful bacteria from reaching the ocean. Newport Beach employs a five-person Code and Water Quality enforcement team to ensure private businesses like mobile auto detailers or contractors follow correct water-quality monitoring practices. The team monitors neighborhoods to ensure residents follow water-quality laws.

The city has also installed traps and filtration systems on its storm-drain system and worked closely with residents to keep streets clean.

Yet even with the improvements, it remains difficult to control bacteria levels. Even a microscopic particle that makes its way into the end of the delivery system can cause beach closures, Kiff said.

“And we can only look for bacterial indicators,” not actual viruses that might be harmful to humans, Kiff said.

Current testing methods only look for several bacteria that are usually signs of possible viruses in the water, not actual detections of anything dangerous to humans.

“We might be closing beaches expecting something to be there that isn’t there, then we’ve scared the public to think a beach may be closed when it could just have been a bird dropping that cause the high bacteria count,” he said.

Unnecessary beach closures can cause misconceptions about area water quality and what it takes to keep the ocean clean, said Nancy Gardner of the Newport Beach Chapter of Surfrider.

Besides continued monitoring and filtration systems, Gardner said it’s important to educate inland communities about preventing urban runoff.

“If we can get the stuff not put in the water in the first place, then we won’t have to worry about water testing,” she said.

dpt.25-beachreport-CPhotoInfoJJ1R9QGB20060525iu52h9ncDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Surfers now enjoy cleaner water at Newport’s beaches.