A Closed Beach Is a Tourist Detraction

* On Sept. 30, we took our son to Doheny State Park in Dana Point. It was a beautiful, warm sunny day, and he was very excited to go in the water. When we stopped at the entrance kiosk, there was a sign out saying the beach was closed and swimming and wading were prohibited due to contaminated water. My son was terribly disappointed and did not understand high levels of bacteria in the water or the negative health risk attached to having human contact with the contaminated water. Since we live in San Clemente, missing one day at the beach was not a terrible hardship. But what about people who visit our area?

According to the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce, tourist dollars account for 40% of the city budget. There are two large resort hotels in this area and they have the ability to bring in considerable income to this area. When beaches are closed this has a significant effect on those visitors. Imagine traveling across the country to visit the “California Riviera” as it has been advertised and told not to go in the water because it is too polluted. What kind of message will visitors take back home? One of our most vital industries does not need the negative publicity that beach closures brings.

According to the Environmental Health Agency of the County of Orange, there have been 17 incidents of beach closure from Jan. 1 to Oct. 1 resulting from sewer spillage into the waterways that dump into the ocean. Total beach closure days for the county was 76, a remarkable 27% of the year to date. Tourists had [about] a one in four chance of having their visit to Orange County impacted by a beach closure. How will the new reduced standards for water quality affect our beaches? How does the taxpaying public benefit from higher levels of heavy metals in its water and shoreline?

Bringing in tourist dollars is good for our area and tax base. Pollution and a deteriorating environment will cause our area to be less competitive for the national and global tourist dollar. A clean environment is good for our economy.

KEN FORTUNE

San Clemente