Coastal Blog
April 16 2012
Surfrider Foundation Sues Maui County Over Illegal Sewage Discharges
Surfrider Foundation, Hawaii Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club-Maui Group, and West Maui Preservation Association, represented by Earthjustice, sued the County of Maui today for federal Clean Water Act violations leading to contamination of nearshore waters from the Lahaina wastewater facility injection wells.
April 13 2012
Danger: Stay out of the Water!
Blue Water Task Force Youth Water Quality
Read this press release by Santa Monica High School students after they measured alarmingly high bacteria levels at their ocean beach BWTF testing sites following heavy rains last week. These students continue to do a great job bringing public attention to local beach pollution problems.
April 11 2012
Phone In To Help Hawaii Reduce Plastic Bag Pollution
Hawaii stands poised to pass the nation's first statewide Bag Bill (HB2483). The bill would reduce the consumption of single-use plastic and paper bags through a small fee, and revenues from the fees would help fund watershed protection. Over the last four years, the coalition of supporters has grown to…
April 10 2012
Restoring Clean Water and Natural Ecosystems in Ventura, CA
Know Your H20 Low Impact Development Ocean Friendly Gardens Water Quality
For the past two decades the Ventura Chapter has been working on integrated solutions to the problems that face our ocean, waves, and beaches. Learn more about the many programs and campaigns they are leading to protect and restore water quality, water supply and watershed function in the Ventura River…
April 08 2012
Ocean Frontiers Film Opens to Rave Reviews
A new documentary spotlights ocean stewardship efforts across the country, and offers a vision for implementing our National Ocean Policy
April 05 2012
Rise Above Plastics Goes Global
Surfrider's Rise Above Plastics program started on the West Coast, has made an impact in coastal communities across the U.S. and now reaches to Europe and beyond. Surfrider’s Europe flagship event “Ocean Initiatives” held it's opening weekend from March 22 to March 25. The “Ocean Initiatives” are an awareness program…
April 03 2012
Fire Station’s Ocean Friendly Garden: Indoor & Outdoor Classroom
Ocean Friendly Gardens Basic Class
Surfrider partners with an LA-based water district to fund ten public demonstration Ocean Friendly Gardens. In Los Angeles, Fire Station 171 holds a class and then goes out to the garden for show-and-tell at the new Ocean Friendly Garden built at their station.
April 02 2012
Peter Douglas 1942 -2012
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of a legendary advocate of coastal protection in California and beyond.
April 02 2012
Brown Water Advisory on Kaua’i
The Kaua'i BWTF released results of their post-storm water testing in their local newspaper. This Chapter has done a very good job of raising community awareness of their testing program and local water pollution issues.
March 30 2012
Week In Review: Videos and Kickstarter
This past week saw some great plastic pollution awareness videos making the rounds along with a couple of Kickstarter plastic pollution projects worth mentioning. Not familiar with Kickstarter? Kickstarter is a funding platform made especially for creative projects with a clear goal that will eventually be completed, and something will…
March 26 2012
Senators request funding for water quality monitoring
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality
Thanks to your calls, tweets and emails and the hard work of our partners at Heal the Bay, Clean Ocean Action, NRDC, Surfers Environmental Alliance and the Waterkeeper Alliance, we were able to get 18 Senators to join Senator Lautenberg to request that the federal funding for water quality monitoring…
March 26 2012
Great Student Urban Runoff Videos
Blue Water Task Force Youth Water Quality
We love receiving videos from students who understand the connection between what we do on land and how it affects the ocean. Here is a "First Flush" video from "Team Marine" at Santa Monica High School and an Urban Runoff video from the "Green Team" at Hughes Middle School in…
March 26 2012
What Is the Monetary Value of a Healthy Ocean?
ScienceDaily (Mar. 22, 2012) — Professor Robert Diaz of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science is a co-editor of "Valuing the Ocean" a major new study by an international team of scientists and economists that attempts to measure the ocean's monetary value and to tally the costs and savings associated…
March 23 2012
Superior Court Upholds Los Angeles County Bag Ban
Legal Rise Above Plastics Bag Bans
In a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing today, Judge James C. Chalfant upheld the County of Los Angeles ordinance to impose a single-use plastic bag ban with a 10-cent fee on paper bags.
March 22 2012
Blue Water Task Force 2011 Annual Report
This World Water Day, the Surfrider Foundation and partner Emergen-C Blue issued the Blue Water Task Force Annual Report to share water quality testing results from the Foundation’s volunteer-run testing labs. Download the report to read the full results.
March 22 2012
Happy World Water Day! What’s It To You?
Today is World Water Day! Founded in 1993 by the United Nations, this global observance highlights the need for the care and management of the world’s water resources. This year’s theme, “Water and Food Security” seeks to highlight the relationship between water and global food supplies. When I think of…
March 20 2012
Teach Kids About Plastic with a Hands-On Sand Dig & Scavenger Hunt!
A few years ago the Portland Chapter was asked to attend the Portland Children’s Clean Water Festival, where over 1,400 kids come and learn all about water in one day! With hundreds of other booths and games to play, I was going to have to make something fun, engaging and…
March 19 2012
3 Steps to Fund Water Quality Monitoring
We have an opportunity this week (March 19th) to urge our Senators to support New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg in asking the Senate Appropriations Committee to restore funding for water quality monitoring. Here are the 3 easy steps to encourage your Senator to join him.
March 17 2012
Let’s Restore the Gulf!
The Senate has passed a bill to help restore the Gulf of Mexico using revenue from fines collected from the BP oil spill. The measure will next be considered by the House of Representatives. Thanks to all of you who have taken action so far!
