Santa Monica Teach & Test Mentorship Program

FEBRUARY 21, 2010

Teach and Test Mentorship Program

Pictured above: Member of the Teach and Teach and Test program Jacob Hasset takes water quality samples with students from Lincoln Middle School and SMASH by the Santa Monica Pier

Yesterday members of the Teach and Test Program at Santa Monica High School taught students from Lincoln Middle School and SMASH all about water quality testing and the importance of keeping our oceans clean. We took the students down to the beach where they each took a sample of the water and filled out a data sheet. Then they each were given the opportunity to process their sample in the laboratory and put their finished sample in the incubator. We tested their knowledge of what they learned with a game of Teach and Test Jeopardy! It was wonderful experience inspiring the youth to make a positive change in the world.


Pictured above: Members of the Teach and Test program Kou Collins and Daniel Franco teach a student from Lincoln Middle School how to process their sample in the lab.

More pictures from this field trip are posted here and unfortunately include many shots of plastic and other trash strewn across the beach. Hopefully while the Santa Monica students were helping to motivate a global movement of care for the coast, everyone was also inspired to Rise Above Plastics.

Santa Cruz Chapter BWTF

The Santa Cruz Chapter in California recently received some local media attention for their BWTF program, story below.

Also, check out their BWTF webpage

Our Ocean Backyard: Surfing cleaner waters

Posted: 08/08/2009 01:30:23 AM PDT by Dan Haifley, Santa Cruz Sentinel http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/rss/ci_13020624?source=rss

Irish philosopher George Berkeley once posed the question: if a tree falls and no one's around to hear it, would it really make a sound?

If he were alive today, he could also ask: Would our water quality be any better if nobody bothered to check?

Of course water contamination would exist even if people weren't looking for it. But people do pay attention, which helps make the quality of the water flowing through streams and storm drains to the sea safer.

Some who test water quality are volunteers, and some, such as surfers and farmers, have a direct stake in its outcomes. And, they are really good at it.

One project occurred on a Saturday last May when 224 volunteers took a snapshot of Central Coast water quality. Complementing that is a year-round effort by volunteers for Surfrider Santa Cruz.

Surfrider Santa Cruz is a chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, an international nonprofit organization of surfers that burst onto the scene in the early 1990s after winning a water quality judgment against a pulp mill in Eureka.

Local Surfrider volunteers have adopted several area beaches that they monitor for levels of indicator bacteria E. coli and enterococci, which are organic contaminants. When levels of these indicator bacteria exceed California's established recreational standards -- 400 colonies per 100 milliliters for E. coli and 104 colonies per 100 milliliters for enterococci -- beachgoers have an increased risk for exposure o microbes that cause water-related illnesses.
Sarah Mansergh, volunteer lab coordinator for Surfrider Santa Cruz, says: "Overall, we have some pretty clean beaches. The Los Angeles-based Heal the Bay has even rated Natural Bridges and Twin Lakes beaches as A+' for not exceeding recreational standards at all in their recent water quality report."

The picture is not perfect, however. Mansergh says: "A few other beach areas aren't as healthy. San Lorenzo river mouth, Cowell's Beach, Schwan Lake and Capitola Beach still routinely show elevated levels of indicator bacteria." Why point out these flaws? To get some help.

And help for impacted areas is on the way. Funding has been secured for a San Lorenzo River project to help preserve water quality when flows are low or non-existent, as well as the Rio del Mar Esplanade sewer replacement project. Those improvements should result in better water quality at area beaches.

Surfrider's water quality team has 12 volunteers who collect samples for examination at their lab. More volunteers participate in beach cleanups, storm drain stenciling, education programs and the chapter's "Wipe Out Plastic Takeout" campaign to reduce plastics in our waterways.

Mansergh says, "Visit our Web site for upcoming events and resources, and what you can do to keep our beaches healthy. You can also do plenty on your own like not dumping into storm drains, planting an ocean-friendly garden and keeping those plastic bags and cigarette butts out of our waterways."

The Surfrider Foundation has local chapters including San Mateo, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Monterey -- each with a water quality program. Go to www.surfrider.org , click "Chapters."

My next column: agriculture in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's watersheds.

Dan Haifley is the executive director of O'Neill Sea Odyssey. He can be reached at dhaifley@oneillseaodyssey.org.

The Blue Water Task Force: Creating Partnerships to Improve our Beaches

Presented at The Coastal Society's 21st Biennial Conference
Coastal Footprints: Minimizing Human Impacts, Maximizing Stewardship
June 29 - July 2, 2008, Redondo Beach, CA
Mara Dias & Charlie Plybon, Surfrider Foundation

The Surfrider Foundation is a grassroots, non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves and beaches for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education. The Surfrider Foundation operates through a system of over 80 chapters located in almost every coastal state and internationally.

The Blue Water Task Force (BWTF) is the Surfrider Foundation’s volunteer water quality monitoring, education and advocacy program. Designed to take advantage of the daily presence of surfers and beachgoers in coastal waters, it is the Surfrider Foundation's most visible and successful program to date.

The BWTF program serves many purposes beyond providing a record of beach water quality. Chapters are educating students about water-quality issues and promoting a coastal stewardship ethic. Our chapters are also utilizing this program to alert citizens and officials in their communities about water quality problems and to work toward solutions.

BWTF volunteers often become advocates for the beaches and watersheds they are monitoring and bring their data to local decisionmakers when water quality issues are discovered. Many Surfrider chapters have been very successful at elevating public awareness of water quality issues and integrating science into local management schemes aimed at solving beach pollution problems.

Newport, Oregon

The Blue Water Task Force laboratory in Newport, Oregon is located at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Nearly thirty Surfrider volunteers participate in this program by collecting weekly water samples from Newport’s beaches and upstream waterways. Past BWTF data have revealed consistently high bacteria counts at Nye Beach and in Nye Creek. Concerned by the lack of public awareness of this pollution problem, the local chapter approached the City with their data. In 2005, the City of Newport responded by forming the Mayor’s Water Quality Committee to deal with the issues Surfrider was raising.

The chapter worked cooperatively with the Mayor’s Water Quality Committee to improve public notification of the creek’s contamination through newly developed signage. Nye Beach and the Nye Creek outfall were also included in the State of Oregon’s Beach Monitoring Program for the first time. This was a pretty significant achievement as these locations were not even being tested previously, and Nye Creek became the first freshwater site ever to be included in the State’s regular beach monitoring program. The Committee also developed watershed education leaflets that were distributed with the City’s utility bills.

In early 2007, the mayor concluded the Water Quality Committee but the chapter has continued to push local and state authorities to investigate and to start solving the pollution problems in Nye Creek and Nye Beach.

As part of their efforts to identify the sources of pollution, the chapter performed a watershed characterization that included sewer and stormwater infrastructure mapping and hot-spot testing. Illegal dumping of waste from trailers and homeless camps were identified as one possible source of contamination in the upper watershed of Nye Creek. The city responded by removing the trailers and fining their owners. A nuisance ordinance was also passed to move the homeless camps away from the creek.

The work to identify the source of pollution continued, however, as the greatest concentrations of bacteria were found in the lower watershed. While the Chapter had difficulties at first trying to motivate the City Council to seriously investigate the sources of pollution, a youth volunteer group, Nye – Awareness, Research, Monitoring and Stewardship (ARMS), was more successful. This group was formed by members of the Oregon Coast Aquarium’s Youth Volunteers, who had been collecting and analyzing water samples. Under the guidance and mentorship of the Chapter, these youth became more involved in researching the Nye Creek Watershed. As part of their collaborative project with the Newport Chapter, they presented their findings from their winter water quality project to Newport City Council and made recommendations for Nye creek water quality issues.

In response the City began conducting smoke and dye testing to investigate the storm water basin and discovered several misconnections. Seven properties were discharging directly to the storm water system instead of the city sewer. These cross-connections have since been rectified. Learn more about the smoke testing and the investigation at http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2008/04/18/news/news01.txt
http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2008/04/04/news/news16.txt

The chapter was also successful in convincing the City Council to revise Newport’s municipal code to mandate best management practices for water quality improvements through sewer, storm water and other non-point source pollution controls. The City unanimously passed an animal waste removal ordinance and watershed protection ordinances regulating stormwater runoff, including the creation of a stormwater utility and an opt-out incentive program for residents and businesses that participate in stormwater disconnect projects on their property.

Further reductions in non-point source pollution will also hopefully be seen in Nye Creek from the installation of a biopond in the upper watershed. The City of Newport has received approval from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to install this biopond to improve water quality in the watershed. Newport is able to use 80% of a past fine levied by the state for water quality violations to fund this Supplemental Environmental Project. The Newport Surfrider chapter was involved in the design phase of this project.

The Newport chapter’s BWTF program has also branched out beyond the Nye Creek watershed to participate in the Mid-Coast Basin Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program. Located on Oregon’s central coast, the Mid-Coast Basin contains urban areas, agricultural lands, and public and industrial forests. Approximately 500 of its 2,765 stream miles are in violation of water quality standards for fecal coliform or E. coli bacteria. Volunteers throughout the Mid-Coast Basin are collecting water samples, and Surfrider will be providing its bacteria data to the DEQ to establish TMDL Load and Wasteload Allocations.

San Vicente Creek, California

The San Mateo County Chapter has also successfully used their BWTF program to raise awareness of water quality issues and initiate change in the San Vicente Creek watershed in California. The San Vicente Creek flows entirely within San Mateo County and drains to the ocean in the James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. The Chapter’s interest in this watershed began when they noticed that the beach in the Reserve was almost constantly posted with a swimming advisory due to high bacterial counts. Despite the advisory, the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve is a very popular beach for school field trips, and children were observed washing their hands in the creek on numerous occasions.

The Chapter decided to contact local authorities at the San Mateo County Health Department to investigate the source of the bacterial pollution. Together with the County and landowners along the creek, they began testing the water quality upstream to identify hot spots of pollution in San Vicente Creek watershed. This collaborative study identified numerous sources of bacteria including old septic and sewer systems, animal pens, illegal agricultural residences, equestrian facilities and illegal discharges.

All landowners were very keen to take action to reduce their impact on the San Vicente Creek Watershed. The chapter and county worked with the equestrian facilities to install Best Management Practices (BMPs) such as moving fences away from the creek, moving manure piles, composting manure, changing how horses are pastured and altering the farms’ drainage. The chapter conducted monthly water quality monitoring at the equestrian facilities and brought middle school students to Moss Beach Ranch to demonstrate the BMPs as part of the chapter’s Watershed Discovery Workshop.

The water quality at the beach in the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve has improved. The beach isn’t posted as often as it once was. Even when the water quality does not meet the bathing standard, the bacteria levels aren’t as high as they once were. The chapter continues to participate in the San Mateo County Department of Health’s Recreational Water Quality Program by collecting water samples from area beaches. Read more at http://www.examiner.com/a-649285~County_marine_reserve_on_mend.html

Other Chapter Efforts

There are many other examples throughout Surfrider where chapters have successfully applied scientific data and studies to raise community awareness of water quality issues. In doing so, Surfrider volunteers are motivating local governments and stakeholders to locate and take action to eliminate sources of beach water pollution.

After a source tracking study identified pet waste as the major source of fecal pollution in a section of the inter-coastal waterway near Charleston, SC, the Charleston Chapter obtained a small grant from the City of Folly Beach to make and install plastic bag dispensers at beach access points for dog owners’ use. The Chapter’s “Love Dogs, Hate Poop” campaign includes an education element and has led to the design of the Dog Rocket (patent pending). Chapter volunteers continue to maintain the plastic bag dispensers.

In California, the San Luis Bay Chapter noticed an interesting trend when they evaluated three years of water quality testing data from Pismo Beach. The results showed that higher levels of bacteria were being measured during the dry summer months than during the winter when storm water is more likely to flush pollutants from the landscape. The Chapter brought this to the attention of the City, who responded very favorably by forming a Pismo Beach Water Quality Group. This Group has already improved the public notification system of beach closures at Pismo Beach and has successfully applied for a state grant to fund a source tracking study.

In addition to using their own BWTF data to highlight water quality issues, Surfrider chapters are also helping to get agency beach data out to the public by posting it on websites, sending out email alerts, and putting up posters at beaches, schools, and other community bulletin boards. Through these efforts, the Blue Water Task Force is linking the regulatory agencies with concerned citizens and resource users.

Summary

The Surfrider Foundation is a grass-roots network of volunteers that come from all walks of life and backgrounds. Surfrider’s diverse global membership is motivated by their common love for the ocean and a strong desire to protect our beaches for everyone’s enjoyment. The Blue Water Task Force Program provides a vehicle for volunteers to participate in science and to motivate coastal communities to take action to clean up our watersheds and improve the water quality at our beaches.

Investigating the Sources of Pollution at Pismo Beach, California

Researchers from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo began a source tracking study in May, 2008 at Pismo Beach in California. The San Luis Bay chapter was highlighted in Making Waves last year for drawing attention to a chronic water quality problem at Pismo Beach and working with the Mayor to apply for a State grant to fund a source tracking study. It is good to see this issue continuing to move forward.

The below article reports the study’s cost at $660,000 plus a $50,000 local match. These costs certainly vary depending on the scope of the study and location, but are usually out of range for a chapter to pursue on their own. Congratulations to the San Luis Bay chapter for establishing good relationships with the Mayor’s office and the Pismo Beach Water Quality Group to successfully obtain funding for this source tracking study.

OCEAN POLLUTION: Pismo study to find source of bacteria
A team of Cal Poly professors will begin a yearlong analysis of the waters south of the pier in May
By AnnMarie Cornejo, originally posted on SanLuisObispo.com
April 2, 2008.

A team of scientists next month will begin tracking the source of ocean pollution that has caused a series of bacteria warnings for the waters south of the Pismo Beach Pier. This week, the city received a state grant of more than $660,000 to pay for the project. Five Cal Poly professors will use an advanced DNA tracking method to identify the source of the bacterial pollution — something that city officials say has not been done in the state.

High bacteria levels have plagued the small beach town’s coastline near the pier for years. Last year, an annual statewide beach report done by Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica- based environmental group, gave Pismo Beach a grade of D for the busy summer months and a C for the year. Those marks compare unfavorably to the A grades at all other county beaches. So far this year, high bacteria warnings have been posted at the stretch of beach just south of the pier seven times. The beach was posted 23 times last year and 24 times in 2006.

The grant allows the city to hire Cal Poly microbiology professor Chris Kitts, who will work with a team to gather a year’s worth of water samples and conduct DNA testing on the bacteria to determine its source. Potential sources include people, wildlife and livestock. The city is required to contribute only $50,000 to the study, which was included in the budget in anticipation of the grant. “As far as I know, we are the only city to pursue this to this level,” said Dennis Delzeit, city public works director. “Everyone in the state is looking at this study to see what comes out of it.”

Kitts predicts that the source of the polluting bacteria will be determined by January 2010. The team will begin taking water samples in May and do so weekly for the next 11 months. In the summer, when most problems occur, daily samples will be taken. And, for two days at the height of the study, water samples will be taken hourly. “There has been an increase of advisory postings during the summer over the last three years and that is when Pismo really needs the beach open,” Kitts said.

Pismo Beach officials have worked to solve the bacteria problem during the past two years with actions that included adopting an ordinance prohibiting beachgoers from feeding birds in order to limit the amount of pigeon feces near the pier. The city also changed the way it cleans the pier, inspected all sewer lines around the beach and formed an Ocean Water Quality Committee. City officials anticipate the study will help provide a solution. “The city has struggled with a negative image, and this grant allows us to turn that around and be seen as an environmentally active community,” Delzeit said.

County Reserve on Mend

(as posted on MAR 31, 2007 6:00 AM BY EDWARD CARPENTER, THE EXAMINER)

MOSS BEACH, CA -
Increased water monitoring and quick action to track down and end bacterial discharges into one of the county’s pristine wildlife sanctuaries has resulted in a dramatic improvement in water quality at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.The popular reserve, near the coastal community of Moss Beach, has seen a 60 percent drop in the number of beach warnings posted compared to 2001, according to Dean Peterson, director of environmental health for San Mateo County.

“We have seen a vast improvement in the water quality,” Peterson said.

The reserve is home to a variety of seaweed, crabs, sponges, sea stars, mollusks and fish, many of which can be viewed by walking through the easily accessible intertidal pools. An estimated 130,000 local residents and travelers visit the beach each year, according to officials. The greatest danger to visitors in recent years has been coliform and E. coli bacterial contamination — which comes from animal and human feces — found all too often in the waters of the reserve and south to Pillar Point Harbor, Peterson said. Exposure to the bacteria has been known to result in the contraction of hepatitis or influenza, Peterson said.

Aside from the thousands of schoolchildren and tourists who visit the reserve, residents who buy fish directly off the docks and surfers could also be at risk, said Carolann Towe, of the nonprofit environmental group Surfrider Foundation. Towe monitors the water quality in the area on a weekly basis. From a high that exceeded the state standard for contaminants by 60 times back in 2001, she has seen the numbers plunge to within what the state allows, Towe said.

Working with horse ranchers, clearing out homeless camps along San Vicente Creek — which runs into the reserve — and sealing off two illicit residential sewer overflow pipes that drained into the creek have made a tremendous difference, Peterson said.

Rich Allen, a coast side rancher, was one of those who worked with the county and Towe, to move fences and horse paddocks to prevent manure from running off in San Vincente Creek, which ultimately empties into the reserve.

“We realized that we had to make sure that the water that leaves our ranch is just as clean as the water the runs into it,” Allen told The Examiner on Friday.

In 2005, the reserve was designated one of 36 “critical coastal areas” in the Bay Area, leading to a handful of organizations turning their focus toward tracking down and measuring runoff contaminants, Al Wanger of the California Coastal Commission said. In Fitzgerald Marine Reserve’s case, development in nearby Montara also plays a role, Wanger said. “One of the largest threats to coast and ocean is runoff, and that’s what this program is trying to get at.”

A major goal of the critical coastal areas program is to develop a comprehensive plan to tackle water runoff, preventing it or using natural filters such as plants and culverts to clean the water before it makes its way to the coast, said Kelly Nelson, executive director of the San Mateo County Resource Conservation District. But such a plan may still be a year or two away, as local governments, environmentalists and local residents work to identify pollution sources and find the best ways to put a voluntary stop to them, Wanger said.

http://www.examiner.com/a-649285~County_marine_reserve_on_mend.html