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“Malibu water is so dirty . . . dirtiest water in the world; that and Tijuana,” chuckled a local as he paddled by last Saturday afternoon at Topanga State Beach. Coming from New Jersey, I am used to not-so-clear ocean water.
Most expect Malibu water to be clean, pristine and beautiful. After all, the Bu is a pretty ritzy place, and Los Angeles is one of the top 10 richest cities in the world. The town’s money, unfortunately, does not go to keeping Malibu’s best asset— the ocean— clean.
L.A. County beaches are infamous for having contaminated water, due to runoff from creeks, rivers, and storm drains, as well as poor septic systems and treatment facilities. As a result, some L.A. County beaches contain a particularly high fecal bacteria count.
Heal the Bay, a nonprofit environmental group, puts out a weekly environmental report card for L.A. County beaches. Malibu’s own Surfrider Beach consistently receives a grade of “F” for both dry and wet conditions. Last year, Heal the Bay ranked Surfrider Beach the fourth most contaminated beach in California and Topanga Beach the ninth most contaminated beach. Both beaches are considered excellent surf spots.
Researchers at UCLA and Stanford published a study in July showing that “bacteria pollution at many Southern California beaches is responsible for illnesses in up to 1.5 million swimmers and bathers annually as well as tens of millions of dollars in healthcare and other related costs.”
The study said the most common illnesses “include diarrhea and vomiting.” Moreover, Polakovic states that “[t]he estimated health effects are somewhat conservative because they do not include eye, ear, and nose infections or other illnesses associated with polluted water.”
In the past week, I’ve surfed both Topanga and Surfrider, staying in the water at Topanga for three hours and at Surfrider for one. Fortunately, none of the above stated illnesses affected me, but I am young, have a strong immune system and usually head north to County Line where the water is cleaner. Those who frequent places like Surfrider are surely more likely to contract an illness.
What is really frightening is the effect that this water could have on the die-hard Surfrider surfers, the guys who only surf Surfrider and go out every day, or close to it. A lot of these guys spent much of their lives surfing Surfrider. It is their home, and they will stay faithful to Surfrider, no matter how polluted its water becomes.
Surfrider is predominantly a long boarding break, and the surfer crowd there is a bit older. Frequently you see guys in their 60s and 70s paddling out. Many know that the immune system weakens with age, and it is terrible that these men have to worry about their health while pursuing a healthy activity that they love.
Surfrider is the most famous surf spot in Malibu and one of the most famous surf spots in America. According to the Surfrider Foundation website, “Malibu Surfrider Beach has one of the highest frequency of visitors in the world.”
Fortunately, there is a new water treatment facility being built at Cross Creek that will eventually cover the land that is now the Chili cook-off site.
According to the California Coast and Ocean website, “the water will be screened for trash . . . then pumped to a treatment facility where it will be filtered and disinfected before it is released back into the creek.” Malibu is also exploring other uses for the treated water.
According to the Web site of the city of Malibu, “the project is nearing completion.” The Grand Opening of the Stormwater Facility Building is scheduled for Feb. 2.This news is certainly promising for Malibu surfers and swimmers.
Hopefully the new facility at Cross Creek will significantly improve the water quality at Surfrider and surrounding beaches. Malibu has become such a wealthy, desirable area to live because of the Pacific Ocean. The least the city can do is try to keep its portion of the Pacific unpolluted.
Submitted 02-01-2007
MALIBU, CA
