Newport creek one of O.C.’s dirtiest

Alicia Robinson

Two area water bodies are near the top of a list of Orange County

waters with poor water quality, according to a report released

Tuesday by Orange County CoastKeeper and other coastal monitoring

groups.

The report is based on data collected May 17, a statewide water

monitoring day for various water-quality organizations. Los Trancos

Creek in Newport Beach and Talbert Channel in Huntington Beach showed

high levels of phosphates and nitrates, which can cause explosive

plant growth and kill fish. Los Trancos at Crystal Cove also

contained high levels of e coli bacteria, CoastKeeper project

coordinator Ray Hiemstra said.

The two waterways were among the four worst sites monitored in

Orange County, Hiemstra said, who said the Talbert Channel empties

into the ocean just north of Newport Beach. The other two top

offenders were Aliso Creek in Laguna Beach and Segunda Deshecha in

San Clemente.

Of the 36 sites checked countywide, water at 31 sites exceeded at

least one of the standards measured. Federal Environmental Protection

Agency standards were used in the monitoring, Hiemstra said.

“Pretty much every stream that we monitored had some kind of

problem,” he said. “Some of them were just more serious than others.”

Compared with an EPA-designated “acceptable” level of 0.1

milligrams of phosphates per liter of water, Los Trancos water was

measured at 0.16 milligrams per liter, and Talbert water contained

0.18 milligrams per liter.

The high levels of nitrates and phosphates are “your classic urban

runoff problems” caused by lawn fertilizers, people washing their

cars and the like, Hiemstra said.

The EPA’s acceptable level of e coli is 61 bacteria colonies per

100 milliliters of water. Los Trancos monitoring showed more than

5,000 colonies per 100 milliliters, Hiemstra said. The e coli is

probably coming from biological waste in the water stream, he said.

The Santa Ana River Water Quality Control Board oversees numerous

bodies of water in the Newport-Mesa area, including Los Trancos Creek

and the Talbert Marsh. Water-quality board spokesman Kurt Berchtold

said he had not seen the report yet, but the board has worked with

Orange County CoastKeeper to solve water-quality problems.

Orange County is already familiar with beach closures and

pollution of coastal waters, he said.

“There have been significant problems in the past, and in recent

years, I think, those problems have been improving, but certainly

they’re not completely eliminated,” Berchtold said.

The first step to fixing a water-quality problem is identifying

the source of pollution, he said. If urban runoff is causing

pollution, municipalities bear some responsibility, and the board can

require them to take corrective action.

“We will certainly review the report and look for any problems

that it identifies that we can address using our regulatory

authority,” Berchtold said.

Poor water-quality ratings in the water bodies did not come as a

surprise.

“It has been a source of problems over time,” said Jeannette

Merrilees of Laguna Beach, who led efforts to maintain public access

at Crystal Cove State Park.

New housing developments in the hills above Crystal Cove and the

Pelican Hill golf course have likely increased runoff into the creek

and subsequently the ocean, she said.

“That is alarming to me because [Crystal Cove is] the state park

beach that is affected,” she said. “The public needs to be able to

use that beach without getting ear infections and skin infections.

... It’s a place where people take their children.”

Talbert has likewise been a trouble spot for years.

“We’ve looked at it many, many times,” Huntington Beach

Councilwoman Debbie Cook said of the Talbert Marsh water problem.

“Its been studied to death, and we’ve done everything we can to try

to clean up what’s coming out of there.”

The city diverted flow from Talbert Channel to the Orange County

Sanitation District, but even that hasn’t solved the problem

entirely, she said.

“It continues to be a problem and nobody’s come up with any

alternatives for what to do with it. ... We’re open to suggestions.”

Hiemstra said that about half of the 546 sites monitored statewide

showed some water-quality problems. The report will help establish

benchmark data for water quality along the California coast, he said.

“A lot of these waterways, as far as I know, have never been

tested for this,” he said. “It’s intended specifically to identify

problems that maybe nobody even knew about.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She can be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.