June CasagrandeThis may be the most water-quality-conscious...

June Casagrande

This may be the most water-quality-conscious city around, but that’s

even more reason to keep working for awareness, Surfrider Foundation

members say.

“There are lots of things competing for our attention,” said Nancy

Gardner, representative of the local Surfrider Foundation chapter.

“It’s important to keep water quality a priority in peoples’ minds.”

About 40 Surfrider members and volunteers lined both sides of

Coast Highway near the Santa Ana River on Sunday to continue the

group’s push for reducing pollutants. Emphasizing their “50 in Five”

program, volunteers celebrating Earth Day brandished signs supporting

the goal of reducing pollutants at the river’s mouth by 50% in five

years.

And one of the best ways to attain that goal, supporters say, is

by creating ponds to naturally treat urban runoff as part of the

ambitious Orange Coast River Park project.

“The ponds within the park could be a very natural way of doing

what must be done -- getting pollutants out of the water,” Surfrider

representative Ray Halowski said.

But more important, Gardner and Halowski agreed, is educating

people about ways to stop the problem before it starts, by reducing

litter, bacteria and chemical contaminants throughout the watershed.

“The Santa Ana River watershed goes back about 100 miles, all the

way to Big Bear,” Halowski said. “We want to stop the problem before

it starts.”

One of the first tasks for the 50 in Five program is to conduct

more tests on which pollutants are entering the water and where. Once

they have determined which pollutants create the biggest problems,

they’ll set specific goals for reducing each pollutant, with the goal

of reducing pollution by 50% overall. The most common sources of

contamination at the Santa Ana River mouth are bacteria and viruses

from urban runoff and toxins from manufacturing firms.

The Santa Ana River Park is a 1,000-acre project proposed to

create open space, environmental benefits and habitat restoration.

The park would begin near the mouth of the Santa Ana River and

include land now in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and unincorporated

Orange County. Volunteer groups, including Surfrider and Friends of

the Harbors, Beaches and Parks are working on getting support,

funding and cooperation among the local agencies to build the park

estimated to cost more than $20 million. The park would help decrease

pollutants in the river and the ocean through a system of ponds.

Earth Day took place on Tuesday, but observances nationwide took

place throughout the week.

“We’re very aware of water quality here in Newport, but we need to

keep reminding ourselves,” Gardner said. “That’s the only way we’re

going to get to 50 in five.”

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].