The Harbor Column -- Mike Whitehead

Ahoy.

Newport Beach Councilwoman Norma Glover is on the forefront, pushing

for better harbor water quality in our harbor with her recent request to

fund an extra $1 million a year toward the issue.

At the city meetings I can attend, I can attest that she is joined in

her efforts to improve harbor water quality by Mayor Tod Ridgeway,

Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff, Harbor Resources Director Tony Melum

and many concerned residents. Their incessant efforts are to be lauded

and need to be applied elsewhere in the county.

I have mentioned in previous columns my viewpoints on the harbor’s

water quality and that it should be a primary concern of everyone in

Southern California, not only Newport Beach residents. We need to address

aggressively how to keep the harbor clean, with real solutions that are

feasible and have minimum financial impact.

Constantly, I hear mentioned the usual ways to clean up the harbor,

including street sweeping, grease traps, storm-drain cleaning and

reducing direct urban runoff from washing cars or sidewalks, but this is

happening only within Newport Beach city limits.

We all know that the vast majority -- more than 90% -- of bay

pollution is directly related to the storm drains and creek openings that

empty a large portion of Orange County storm drains into the harbor.

Also, I think another major contributing factor are the sewer-line breaks

that dump annually thousands of gallons of raw sewage into the harbor.

I wrote in my Oct. 15 column: “As I walk my oldest daughter to

Mariner’s Elementary School, we always see a storm drain on Cabrillo

Street near Irvine Avenue that is full of refuse waiting for the next

rain storm to wash all the contents into the harbor.” After writing that

piece, we watched this particular Costa Mesa storm drain fill up with

more trash before the recent rains emptied the contents down into the

harbor.

I was optimistic that this drain would have been cleaned before the

raining season, but it looks like the rains were used to dump the problem

into the harbor.

I am not singling out Costa Mesa, as that is a drain I see almost

daily. You can observe the out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentally by just

glancing into the ditches along the freeways or looking in the other

storm drains throughout the county to see the trash waiting to be flushed

downstream.

The storm drains are where the money should be spent. Let’s go inland

to the actual sources and stop the problem before it comes to the harbor.

I think without the storm drains and creeks emptying into the harbor, the

pollution will be almost nonexistent.

Yes, there are new regulations on runoff pollution, but there are many

practical ways to decease the runoff now. Spend proposed funding on not

only educating the inland areas, but also assisting those responsible

with establishing an urban runoff cleaning solution, not just on more

regulations. In other words, especially in the dry months, let’s

methodically clean the debris up the routes that lead into the harbor.

Each city should have a storm-drain cleaning as part of its normal

operation along with effective street sweeping, and this could be a

mutual aid type of solution between agencies.

The rainy season is here, so I propose to you, yes you, that on a

regular basis, pick up the trash in the gutter in front of your home and

business. Hey, then the trash cannot get into the storm drain -- remember

the title to the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce’s video “What starts

at the drain, feeds the harbor when it rains.”

***

On another topic that is important to the marine environment is that

Tony Melum, Director of the Harbor Resources Division for Newport Beach,

is actively looking for someone interested in helping preserve the Corona

Del Mar Tide pools as a Tide pool Ranger.

What a great part-time job for someone knowledgeable in marine

environment. You could inform and educate the public and school groups on

the sea life and the rules and regulations.

The tide pools are a fragile ecosystem that in the past has been

harmed by visitors taking specimens for food or display and abuse of

unknowing beach goers. The ranger will teach visiting school classes

about the importance of the tide pools, and the ranger can interact with

the general public that may not know how its actions could harm the

marine inhabitants.

Call Tony at (949) 644-3041 or go to the city’s Web site to find out

more about the Ranger position to help educate the public and preserve

the Corona Del Mar Marine Life Refuge.

Safe voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send him

your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions via e-mail

to o7 Mike@BoathouseTV.comf7 or o7 https://www.BoathouseTV.comf7 .