Nancy Gardner

When Newport Beach residents think of the Surfrider Foundation, they

think of Nancy Gardner. The longtime local environmentalist’s name is

practically synonymous with Surfrider and a host of water-quality

causes near and dear to the city’s heart.

When Surfrider held its “50 in Five” rally on Coast Highway at the

mouth of the Santa Ana River on Sunday, Gardner was there. When City

Council members convened to hear a heart-felt pitch for an Orange

Coast River Park, Gardner was there, too. When local high school

students are conducting their own water-quality tests, her mark is

visible there, too.

It’s all for the cause of assuring water quality, she said.

“If we’re going to ask other cities in the watershed, places like

Santa Ana and Tustin, to help care for the water, then we have to set

an example,” Gardner said. “If we can say that those of us in the

cities right at the water are doing everything we can, that’s all the

more reason for others to do some, too.”

The 50 in Five campaign is Surfrider’s plan to reduce pollutants

at the mouth of the Santa Ana River by half in five years. Gardner

said that public awareness is job one because it helps Surfrider win

financial support from government agencies, nonprofit foundations and

private donors, and because it helps individuals become aware of how

their everyday actions can make or break local water quality.

Gardner, a noted surfer in the 1960s and ‘70s, helped found the

Newport chapter of the Surfrider Foundation around 1990 along with

Matt Gadow. In that time, she said, the dynamic between the city and

Surfrider has changed dramatically.

“They don’t just look at us like a bunch of surfers, they know

we’ve got our act together,” said Gardner, who has reduced her water

activities to bodyboarding in the summer. “And the city has become so

aware and enlightened. They’re wonderful to work with.”

The goal of Surfrider and of all her water-quality efforts is to

help people understand their role in preserving the marine

environment.

“Some people don’t understand that they’re part of the problem, so

they can be part of the solution,” she said. “That’s why we always

need to work for more awareness.”

-- Story by June Casagrande