Unified Beach Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Program Approved for South Orange County

Surfrider Foundation was an active participant in a stakeholder group that worked for over two years to develop a Unified Beach Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Program in South Orange County. This unified program meets or exceeds the requirements for beach water quality monitoring and related public notification and reporting established by State law. The unified program is intended to be protective, reasonable, and equitable. It supersedes the existing routine, ongoing beach water quality monitoring programs conducted in south Orange County, eliminates duplicative monitoring, and standardizes procedures for public notification and additional sampling.  All beaches in the program will be monitored year-round.

Noteworthy features of the unified program include the following:
• Monitoring and assessment will be question-driven and beneficial use-oriented. The primary purpose of the unified program will be to answer the question “Does beach water quality meet standards for the beneficial use of water contact recreation?”
• Responsibility for implementation of the unified program will be shared among three agencies (Orange County Health Care Agency, Orange County Public Works, and South Orange County Wastewater Authority (SOCWA)) and implementation arrangements will be flexible. The responsible agencies will jointly make arrangements to implement the program and will have the flexibility to jointly make short and/or long term changes in those arrangements.
• Triggers for public notification will be in effect at all sampling stations year-round and will be the same for all stations.
• Triggers for additional sampling will be in effect at all sampling stations year-round and will be the same for all stations.
• Where beach water quality standards are not consistently met, investigations will be conducted to assess human health risks, identify sources of FIB, and/or evaluate other pertinent factors, as appropriate.
• The same reporting procedures will be used for all sampling stations.
• An annual review of the unified program and assessment of monitoring results will be conducted by a workgroup representing a variety of responsibilities for and interests in beach water quality monitoring.
• Timely beach water quality information will be easily accessible to the public.
• Annual reports will be submitted to the San Diego Water Board; at the request of the Board, presentations would be made at public Board meetings.

The unified monitoring program was approved by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (directive letter issued) in December 2014.  Also in December the NPDES permit for SOCWA's ocean discharge was revised to be in accordance with the monitoring program.  South Orange County's NPDES permit for stormwater discharge is due to be similarly amended in February 2015.