Officials: Water won’t make swimmers ill

A new study from a national environmental organization has found higher levels of bacteria in Newport Harbor and Upper Newport Bay than in the city’s surrounding coastal waters, but city and county officials say the water in the bay isn’t likely to make swimmers sick.

The report from the Natural Resources Defense Council analyzed water quality results from beaches around the country.

While the report found bacteria was a problem in some spots on Newport Bay, it probably isn’t from human waste, which could make a person ill, said Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff.

“I can swim in an area with bird manure or fertilizer in it, but I’m not going to get sick because it’s not something that comes from human waste,” Kiff said.

The study found bacteria levels at the Newport Boulevard Bridge in Newport Harbor exceeded public health standards 30% of the time in 2008.

Bacteria levels from that area are bound to be high, because there’s a storm drain that empties into the bay, said Larry Honeybourne, program manager for the Orange County Health Care Agency’s water quality program, which oversees water testing in Newport Bay.

“Anything that you put in the curb and gutter goes toward the ocean,” Honeybourne said. “These storm drains contain high levels of indicator bacteria, but there’s no connection between storm drains and the sewers.”

Although storm drains empty everything from lawn clippings to animal feces into Newport Bay, human waste from local sewers is piped to Huntington Beach, where it is treated and then sent more than four miles out into the ocean, making it unlikely that human fecal matter would contaminate beaches on Newport Bay, Kiff said.

The Natural Resources Defense Council report also found bacteria levels at other spots on Newport Bay exceeded public health standards anywhere from 8% to 20% of the time.

The report also found dozens of health advisories were issued for beaches on Newport Bay in 2008, including three for Newport Harbor at 33rd Street and three for North Star Beach on Upper Newport Bay. The majority of advisories were due to high bacteria levels in the water.

The number of Health Care Agency advisories for beaches each year on Newport Harbor is actually on the decline, Honeybourne said.

“The trends have all been positive,” he said. “The city has taken an aggressive stance on water quality issues.”

The number of times water tests revealed bacteria levels exceeded public health standards for beaches on Newport Harbor in 2008 was 39, down from 75 times in 2000, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency’s annual water quality report.

Newport Beach Water Quality Facts:

 The Orange County Health Care Agency tests the water quality at 31 stations across Newport Bay once a week.

 The Health Care Agency reported bacteria levels at different locations in Newport Bay exceeded public health standards 39 times in 2008.

 A newly released study by the Natural Resources Defense Council found bacteria levels at the Newport Boulevard Bridge in Newport Harbor exceeded public health standards 30% of the time in 2008.