Volunteers take part in water-quality tests

Andrew Edwards

Runoff from Big Canyon Creek flowed into Newport Bay as two children

tried some science firsthand Saturday by holding testing devices

under the musty-smelling water.

Amanda DeNichilo, 7, and Ethan Williams-Dalgart, 6, used a pair of

cylindrical devices to test the water for phosphates and salinity.

They protected their hands with plastic gloves in case the flow

carried anything truly nasty.

The children started a battery of tests to look for chemicals and

bacteria in Big Canyon Creek. The youngsters were part of a group of

eight volunteers -- four children and four adults -- who took part in

water testing at the stream.

Amanda’s mother, Irvine resident Liz DeNichilo, said Amanda likes

science, so the test was a good project for her, too.

Big Canyon Creek was just one of several Orange County waterways

tested Saturday as part of Orange County Snapshot Day, a project

coordinated locally by the Newport Beach-based Orange County

Coastkeeper. Every major Orange County stream except Salt Creek was

tested, Coastkeeper project manager Ray Hiemstra said.

The project was called snapshot day because test results from

multiple sites will be compiled to create a “snapshot” of Orange

County’s water-quality situation. The report is set to be finished

later in the month, Coastkeeper special projects coordinator Dan Cruz

said.

About 30 volunteers, including 15 experienced members of the

state-sponsored Citizen Watershed Monitors of Orange County,

participated in testing procedures Saturday, Hiemstra said.

Test results ready Saturday showed high amounts of salinity and

phosphates in the creek. Phosphates can be found in laundry detergent

and can accelerate plant growth beyond environmentally-healthy

levels, Hiemstra told the volunteers.

In 2003, Coastkeeper participated in the first-ever California

Coastwide Snapshot Day, when environmentalists and volunteers

collected water-quality data from Oregon to Mexico. Grant funding for

the project has since declined, Hiemstra said. This year, Coastkeeper

relied on a donation from the Orange office of J.D. Power and

Associates to cover the $1,500 cost of testing kits. The eight

volunteers at Big Canyon Creek were connected to the company.

Despite the shortage of funds, Orange County was not the only

region scheduled to take a water snapshot Saturday. The Coastal

Watershed Council and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary had

announced plans for water testing in San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey

and San Luis Obispo counties.