Club aces water tests

Steady monitoring of the water quality at Laguna’s shores has won the high school’s Surfrider Club national honors.

An award from the Environmental Protection Agency on April 18, followed up with a certificate of recognition from U.S. Rep. John Campbell let the club’s members know their work makes a difference.

The Laguna club was one of three student organizations to receive an Environmental Achievement Award, club president Marshall Thomas said.

“This is a big deal. We’re all very proud of it. It’s an honor to the club to be recognized at a national level,” Marshall said.

Thomas and his sister Margaux, who founded the club in 2001 and is now a senior at UC Berkley, represented the club at an April awards ceremony in San Francisco.

Thirty-nine groups in the Pacific Southwest were honored with plaques by Wayne Nastri, regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency.

“These organizations and individuals have applied creativity, teamwork and leadership in addressing many of the west’s most sensitive and complex environmental challenges,” Nastri said.

Nastri plans to come to Laguna in June to see how the club works and do water testing, the club’s advisor Art Smart said.

Smart credits Marshall for organizing and training the club’s members.

The Surfrider club has about 25 members, Marshall said. Since the club’s inception, more than 2,000 water samples have been collected, he added.

Every week, club members go to assigned beaches and retrieve water samples for bacteria testing.

The results are posted on fliers in shop windows around town.

“I’ve seen parents drive to 9th street, where a flier was posted at the top of the beach, so they could make an informed decision as to what beach to take their kids to,” Marshall said.

Club member Laure Michelon, 17, tests the water at Bluebird beach every week.

“It’s good for everyone to see how the water tests, especially for tourists who don’t know the area well,” Laure said.

Sophomore Alex Sorensen spends one to two hours a week testing the water at the Aliso Beach runoff.

“Normally the water there is pretty gross, it’s good to let people know where the best places to swim are,” Sorensen said.

Junior Sasha Speare , a frequent surfer, claims the effort put into testing the water each week is nothing compared to the results the community gets out of it.

“The community cares a lot to keep our beaches clean,” Speare said.

The Laguna Beach Surfrider Chapter supports the club with more than $25,000 in supplies and equipment.

Marshall is already making plans for the club’s summer program, which is open to the community.

In the past, the summer program has included families, college students, business leaders, college professors, and even a city council member, Marshall said.

“We’d like to see our testing program rolled out at schools located in coastal regions throughout America,” Marshall added.cpt.05-itc-CPhotoInfo131QJQQP20060505iypq5bnc(LA)The high school’s Surfrider Club gathers for a group photo after being awarded an Environmental Protection Agency award.