State law protecting coast goes unchanged

A California Water Resources Board meeting in Sacramento proved less

controversial than expected Wednesday as a provision of state law

regarding dumping runoff in environmentally sensitive areas -- including

Crystal Cove -- went unmodified.

Environmentalists had expected that the state board might alter the

state’s Ocean Plan to specify that 34 “areas of special biological

significance” could legally receive discharges of urban runoff.

“There was not a word about that, surprisingly,” said Linda Sheehan,

director of the San Francisco-based Center for Marine Conservation.

“There was no mention of storm water or non-point pollution changes at

all.”

Sheehan said the lack of action might be a sign that the state board

wants to protect environmentally sensitive areas of the coast, but it was

too early to be sure.

“I asked specifically for clarification as to whether staff was going

to ask for these changes [in the future], and I didn’t really get a clear

answer on that,” she said.