Coastal Blog — Water Quality
April 12 2013
No $ for Beach Programs in 2014 Federal Budget
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality
The President's budget for FY2014 once again fails to include any funding to support beach water testing programs. It is disappointing that the Administration continues to be penny-wise and pound-foolish, ignoring the huge public health costs and potential risk to coastal tourism economies that these cuts will bring.
April 08 2013
California’s Landmark Law Under Attack
Beach Access Blue Water Task Force Coastal Preservation Know Your H20 Ocean Ecosystems Water Quality
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is one of California’s most important laws—not only because it helps protect our environment and “quality of life”, but CEQA also promotes democratic participation in the decision-making process—giving citizens a say in what happens in their local communities. Unfortunately over the past few years,…
March 04 2013
Want to Find Sewer Spills and Leaks? Ask a Dog
Blue Water Task Force Source Identification Water Quality
A frequent problem in coastal watersheds is detection of high bacteria counts at beaches. Tracking the sources of the bacteria back up rivers, creeks and storm drains is difficult, time consuming and costly. But there may be a better way - using a trained, sewage-sniffing dog. We wrote about the…
March 04 2013
Chasing away the birds
Introducing the Goosinator: a new device that has been developed in the Great Lakes to chase away flocks of geese and gulls from public beaches.
March 01 2013
Pollution Source Tracking Guide
Blue Water Task Force Source Identification Water Quality
The City of Santa Barbara and UCSB have developed 2 new resources to help track the sources of water pollution in coastal watersheds.
December 11 2012
The Toilet Bowl Effect: Gurgles and Flushes from Pico-Kenter Storm Drain
Blue Water Task Force Youth Rise Above Plastics Water Quality
Students at Santa Monica High School measured high bacteria levels and picked up more than 75 lbs of trash flushed through the Pico-Kenter storm drain by rain events in November. Read the press release they sent out documenting this pollution.
December 10 2012
BWTF data detects sewer overflows at beaches in Newport, Oregon
Blue Water Task Force Partnerships Source Identification Water Quality
Very high bacteria levels detected by the Newport Chapter's BWTF water testing program indicated an ongoing problem with sewer overflows in the area during wet weather. The beaches were posted in the short-term, but the Chapter has been working with the city for nearly 10 years now to address multiple…
December 10 2012
New Controls on Nutrient Pollution in Florida
After years of court battles and lively debate between multiple stakeholders, the USEPA has finally decided to impose numeric water quality standards in the State of Florida to better control nutrient pollution. Algal blooms fueled by excess nutrients have been wreaking havoc on inland and coastal ecosystems alike and have…
December 02 2012
EPA updates recreational water quality criteria
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality Illness
The EPA has released its 2012 water quality criteria recommendations for protecting human health in all coastal and non-coastal recreational waters.
December 01 2012
Sewage still a problem post-Sandy
The New York Times reported this week that since Superstorm Sandy hit a month ago, hundreds of millions of gallons of raw and partly raw sewage from crippled treatment plants have flowed into waterways in New York and New Jersey, exposing flaws in the region’s wastewater infrastructure that will take…
November 07 2012
No Smoking On This Beach Near Tobacco Road
Rise Above Plastics Water Quality
The focus Tuesday was mainly on the Presidential race but there were other important races and plenty of ballot initiatives across the country. In Wrightsville Beach voters soundly approved the first smoke-free beach in North Carolina. The Surfrider Foundation Cape Fear Chapter worked hard on this campaign for two years…
October 17 2012
Happy Birthday Clean Water Act
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. It is a good time to celebrate its successes and to support a strong Clean Water Act to address water quality challenges in the years and decades to come.
October 12 2012
Funding News for Beach Water Testing Programs
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality
While Congress has yet to pass a federal budget for next year, they did manage to agree on a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government in operation until March 31, 2013. This CR includes level funding to keep the EPA BEACH Grants program in operation.
August 31 2012
Doheny - The Plot Thickens
As practically any surfer in southern California knows, there has been a long-running problem with poor water quality at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point. Doheny has made NRDC's "Beach Bummer" list for several years straight and routinely gets Ds or Fs on Heal the Bay's Beach Report Card. Despite…
August 28 2012
Press Conference on the Jersey Shore
Original BEACH bill sponsors Senator Lautenberg and Representative Frank Pallone held a press event on the boardwalk to bring attention to the importance of beaches in supporting jobs and a huge tourism economy in New Jersey. They are continuing their fight to restore funding for beach water testing programs throughout…
August 17 2012
Surfrider Joins Congressman Waxman to Release Report on Congress’s Coastal Voting Record
Know Your H20 Wastewater Ocean Ecosystems Water Quality
Congressman Waxman is one of the most influential members of congress and has rightly earned his reputation as being a mover and shaker. He likes to investigate and uncover issues (just Google his name). So when Surfrider was invited to participate in a press conference with the Congressman to release…
August 07 2012
Sick at the Beach: The Ocean Illness Reporting Tool
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality Illness
Have you ever gotten sick after visiting the beach? Now there’s a place to share your story and see where others are getting sick.
July 31 2012
Three Essential Truths about New Offshore Oil Drilling
We challenge all elected officials to acknowledge these three essential truths when considering any new offshore drilling proposals.
July 20 2012
Spending cuts problems with old and failing sewers and storm systems
A funding bill has just been released from a House Committee that proposes drastic cuts to the State Clean Water Revolving Funds. What this means is less money going out to the states to fix broken sewers, maintaining stormwater systems and installing new, green ways of managing runoff.
July 17 2012
Beach Water Testing Program in Hawaii Struggling
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality
Hawaii's beach water testing program is already struggling to meet beach water testing requirements set by the BEACH Act. Impending federal budget cuts could devastate this program in a state whose economy is largely fueled by beach tourism.
