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La Jolla ocean quality |
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Keeping our oceans clean:
Other pages:
These are my two boys
and the reason I'm so
passionate about water quality ...
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Special Report
from the EPA
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On February 11,
1998, the U.S. EPA and the California EPA
released a report describing the results of the
largest environmental survey ever conducted
along the southern California coast. Populations
of fish and other marine life inhabiting the
region's coastal waters were found to be in
generally good condition, in spite of widespread
low-level contamination on the ocean bottom.
The study was
a cooperative effort of 12 government agencies
and examined conditions in the coastal waters
between Point Conception and the United
States-Mexico international border.
Based on
samples collected in 1994, the survey examined
water and sediment quality and the condition of
the fish and bottom-living organisms in the
area. This study marks the first time that a
sufficient number of measurements were taken to
allow assessment of conditions within the entire
southern California coastal region.
Significant
findings of this study included the following:
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90%
of the sediment on the southern California
coastal shelf is contaminated, though generally
at low levels;
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91%
of the area of the southern California coastal
shelf supports bottom-dwelling animals typical
of natural uncontaminated, bottom sediments;
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Fish
populations and communities are healthy, with
almost no signs of disease;
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DDTs
and PCBs in the livers of bottom fish throughout
the southern California coastal shelf are at
concentrations 95% lower than 20 years earlier;
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Water quality is good, with 99% of the area
meeting the California Ocean Plan objectives for
water clarity and oxygen content.
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The survey was a
cooperative project conducted by the U.S. EPA;
Cal/EPA's State Water Resources Control Board
and Regional Water Quality Control Boards of Los
Angeles, Santa Ana, and San Diego; Southern
California's four largest sanitation agencies:
City of Los Angeles, County Sanitation Districts
of Los Angeles County; County Sanitation
Districts of Orange County; and the City of San
Diego's Metropolitan Wastewater Department; the
Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project; and
Southern California Coastal Water Research
Project (SCCWRP). The project was coordinated by
SCCWRP, a public agency focusing on marine
environmental research.
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Runoff is Ugly
- it’s the excess water that carries pollutants
directly into storm drains which carry water out to sea.
Runoff can contain such pollutants as motor oil,
gasoline, soap from car washes, trash, cigarette butts,
leaves and plants. Runoff also contains copper & zinc
from car brake linings, pesticides, & fertilizers.
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