For decades tourists and local beach goers have been flocking to Southern California in search of an inviting environment to relax and enjoy all the amenities a coastal climate has to offer. Yet despite the beauty and breathtaking atmosphere, many unforeseen factors may alter your perspective in regards to how frequently you visit these beach locations. In its current state many beach destinations surrounding the Orange County, California area are susceptible to urban runoff bringing copious amounts of pollution to the waterfront. As it stands urban runoff is attributing to the decline of water quality in numerous locations like Doheny Beach and Poche Beach, which for several years now have remained present on Heal the Bay’s Top 10 Beach Bummers list. With two of Orange Counties own beaches being present on the Top 10 list, it is now apparent that there is a breakdown in the system in regards to policies responsible for controlling runoff headed to the ocean.
Urban runoff is the pollution washed into the oceans from, “irrigation runoff, households, and storm events, as well as contributions of raw sewage from degrading infrastructure and accidental spills,” (Dwight Fernandez). Urban runoff is a major issue facing California’s beach water quality. The two main sources of coastal water pollution in California are treated sewage and urban runoff, and in Southern California urban runoff is the primary cause of contamination in coastal waters (Brinks). Analysis has shown that urban runoff waters contain, “infectious and toxic pollutants,” posing a serious risk to beachgoers across California (Dwight, Fernandez). Southern California’s dense urban infrastructure, in particular, is conducive to generating urban runoff that is washed int...
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...: In orange county, bacteria from runoff threaten not only the region's reputation, but also its way of life and tourism, officials say. Los Angeles Times, pp. 7-B.7. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.usc.edu/docview/421636652?accountid=14749
Peters, S. (2011, Sep 29, 2011). Heal the bay hands out impressive grades. McClatchy - Tribune Business News, pp. n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.usc.edu/docview/894751503?accountid=14749
Semenza et al. (2012). Climate change and microbiological water quality at california beaches. Ecohealth, 9(3), 293-297.
Thermos, W. (2005, May 26, 2005). Beaches recover in time for summer; winter rains had tainted many sites. doheny is again found to have the worst water quality. Los Angeles Times, pp. B.6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.usc.edu/docview/421992122?accountid=14749
Joe, Brancatelli. " What Is Polluting Our Beaches?" Popular Science 1 Mar. 2003. Database. 23 Oct. 2005.
Increased sea levels can give way to a variety of problems: rapid coastal erosion, shoreline change, loss of natural protective barriers, saltwater intrusion into aquifers and surface water, changes in tidal prisms (volume of water in an inlet between high tide and low tide), and rising water tables ("Climate Change and Impacts of Sea Level Rise"). Ventura County is facing many issues with rapid coastal erosion and loss of natural protective barriers. Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment (BEACON) conducted a study to evaluate the conditions of different beaches along the Ventura County coast (Barlow, "Coastal Erosion Problems Highlighted in New Study"). Port Hueneme’s western beaches (picture to the left) are losing three to five inches per month due to sea level rise pushing beaches farther back.
Jamaica Bay or also known as Dead Horse Bay has a toxic past filled with pollution and decaying carcasses (Roberts,2010). For over a decade, Jamaica Bay has been the main dumping site for waste treatments plants, oozing contaminants from a nearby landfill, runoff from the Belt Parkway and airplane fuel (Roberts,2010). To address this issue of pollution, finding the source of the contaminate would help reduce the continuous depletion of Jamaica Bay. One contaminate in particular has been an issue and it has proven hard to get rid of. Plastic waste litters the estuary and the bay area. The source of the plastic waste is the Combined Sewer Overflow(CSO). The discharge or overflow
The Chesapeake Bay is polluted with agricultural waste. We see things like 1.5 billion pounds of chicken waste that no one wants to take responsibility for. Ignoring standards, a waterway was tested for E. coli; the standard is 125 FCU/100ml of water. Yet this waterway’s level was at 48392 FCU/100ml. An industry that will go to great lengths to make sure that Congress doesn’t impose sanction against them.
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico has an economy centered about tourism because of its desirable year round warm, tropical weather and little precipitation. People enjoy travelling to this part of Mexico because there is little risk with the weather there because you know what to expect during each part of the year. However, this tourism puts a strain on the environment of Cabo. Millions of people each year go to Cabo on vacation and go fishing, see El Arco, scuba dive, or participate in water sports and activities. All of these things require boats. The frequent boat usage in Cabo has polluted parts of the Sea of Cortez and Pacific Ocean located near the city.
The California drought has been extremely harmful to the states’ air quality. Since 2012, California has seen the worst drought conditions in 1,200 years and it is severely affecting air quality (California’s drought, 2015). As of 2015, the cities of Hanford, Merced, Modesto, Fresno, Yuba City, Lancaster-Palmdale, Chico, Sacramento, and Bakersfield have been experiencing exceptional drought coverage (Pestano, 2015). California has a Mediterranean climate, which is a concentrated rainy period several months of the year and warm to hot temperatures the remaining of the year. For the past four years, California’s rainfall has been below average, which causes PM2.5 levels to go
Wolanski, E., Spagnol, S., 1999, Pollution by mud of Great Barrier Reef Coastal Waters: Journal of Coastal Research, V. 16, no. 4, p. 11510-1156.
The Chesapeake Bay has faced an excessive amount of pollution over the past century. The water in the bay has become so highly polluted that It is capable of causing harm to humans coming in direct contact with the water. Although algae serves a vital role in the bay’s ecosystem, it also creates a problem that is causing a large amount of the problem.
...tlanticcity.com>. Irwin, Neil. "Environmental groups pressure chefs on menus." Washington Post June 19, 2002. April 26, 2011 Miller, Michael. "Group says it won't move oyster farm to Delaware Bay" Press of Atlantic City, The. August 3, 2010. Press of Atlantic City online. Atlantic Cape Community College, Mays Landing, April 26, 2011 National Sea Grant Law Center. California Enacts Sustainable Oceans Act. 2006. University of Mississippi April 28, 2011. Naylor, Rosamon L.
The Chesapeake Bay is a very large estuary that holds more than eighteen trillion gallons of water (“The Bay Watershed”). This large estuary is part of six of the different states of Maryland, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia (“Chesapeake Bay Program”). Some characteristics of the bay are salinity, temperature, and circulation. The bay watershed is home to seventeen million people and gains more people each year, so it is no wonder why there are pollution problems (“Chesapeake Bay Program”). The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and is diverse with life. Though the bay is filled with life, it faces many problems caused by humans.
Major efforts have been taken to protect the health of humans from contaminated water during recreation, especially swimming. For many years, waters have been tested for certain types of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) – bacteria commonly found in human and animal feces. While FIB generally do not cause human disease, FIB in the water may indicate the presence of feces and associated pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and protozoans – organisms and agents which have also been found ...
The state’s common pool resource was and still continues to be water. This delicate resource in the American west is in danger of disappearing, and for the millions of people living in large cities are desperate to continue to use it. But the issue of common pool resources is not one that is recent but is one that has been plaguing California since its founding. When California’s population started to grow around the turn of the twentieth century, the town official within the state started to run into some common pool resource issues, water. Cities, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, used whatever power they had to own and control what little water the California environment produced. The cities are large and successful municipalities today because of what they had to do to control the water all those years ago. The city used tactics, such as buying out the land, petitioning the government, and, sometimes, illegal actions, to win the waters of California and their success back then highly shows in their success
Schueler, Thomas R. "Microbes and Urban Watersheds: Concentrations, Sources, & Pathways." Reprinted in The Practice of Watershed Protection. 2000. Center for Watershed Protection. Ellicott City, MD.
The oceans need to be protected because it is where life began and if not taken care of, life as we know it will end. When dangerous substances go into the ocean, ecosystems are suffer and become endangered along with lives of people and of marine life. Surfrider Foundation recognizes the importance of protecting and preserving the quality and biodiversity of the world's coasts because they are truly irreplaceable. There is also historical evidence of ocean pollution being present in the past, but the problem still lingers today. Heal the Bay discovered that,“Did you know there is a DDT and PCB hot spot off the coast of Palos Verdes? This superfund site (which indicates it's one of the most polluted places in the United States), is left over from a 1930's era chemical plant. Because DDT takes so long to break down in the marine environment, it persists to this day, contaminating certain species of fish. There are also highly polluted sediments in the Long Beach area, a sign of the heavy shipping in the port. Heal the Bay works on developing effective capping and removal plans to keep those toxins from spreading” (Heal the Bay). DDT is still highly concentrated in the South Bay area and still contaminating different species of fish. Even after more than 80 years DDT, a toxic insecticide, is still very concentrated and during upwellings, DDT particles come back up and continue to harm marine life. If humans are careless about what is thrown on the floor or sprayed on lawns, it can lead to disastrous affects when it comes to the condition of the ocean's ecosystems, and can endanger life itself leading to a problem that only we can mend.
The problem with contaminated beaches will soon take effect on everyone. The main causes that pollution creates in the beaches are from heavy rainfall, natural disasters, and plant malfunctions. Government agencies cannot control the weather, but they can control what goes into the water. In the United States, the number one reason why beaches are closed down are due to contamination in the water that may be harmful and are left untreated. The arising problem with the beach is that the industries are producing toxic chemicals and tossing the unwanted waste into the ocean. Also, the public are recklessly throwing their trash out into the streets. A prime example to demonstrate this is, if someone was trying to throw a bottle into a street trashcan but missed, he/she is unlikely to pick up after himself/herself if no one was around to see it. This scenario causes pollution to the sidewalks. When mother nature disasters occur, these waste products will end up in the storm drains and into the sewage system. The overflow of debri from the cities can flow into the rivers and if not preserved, it can flow into the ocean. The rivers will then carry these human caused waste into t...