Only a few hardy souls would venture out into the surf during a raging storm. Once the clouds part though, there is a real temptation to take advantage of the waves left in the storm’s wake when surfing conditions are best.
“Surfers often say the water’s great,” said Keith Kezer, program coordinator for the County Environmental Health, Land and Water Division.
But the water is not great and won’t be for at least 72 hours after the sky clears. Left in the wake of every serious storm is an array of urban pollution, including hydrocarbons from cars, copper from roofs and silt from construction sites, any number of bacterial or viral pathogens, everything from staph to Hepatitis C often found in fecal matter. These are most common when the Tijuana River overflow spews effluent into the ocean before it can be treated.
In dry conditions Mexico is able to divert water, treat at a facility near the border and pump the sanitized water out to sea. When it rains, not only does the system break down, but storms often force currents to flow in a different direction.
“Normally the currents flow north to south, but during a storm they often flow in the opposite direction, bringing the effluent up the coast to the Silver Strand,” Kezer said.
The amount is not insignificant. According to Kezer even a small storm can bring 50 to a 100 million gallons a day,” he said. In January of this year a storm brought four billion gallons, he said.
When an advisory is issued, as it was on Friday, people are cautioned to stay out of the water until the advisory is lifted. When storms pass through every few days as they have recently, a 72 advisory can stretch into weeks. This can be tough on people who love to swim and surf.
“The best surfing conditions are often during or just after a storm,” Kezer said.
“In general most people comply with the advisory,” said Sean Casey, Coronado Life Guard Captain. Not everyone. “There are always several people who chose not to,” Casey admits. Since the warnings are only advisory, individuals have the right to do so. Using poor judgment is not a crime.
Experts advise 72 hours because it takes that long for wave action, sunlight, salt and aqua predators, such as jellyfish or other bacteria, to remove the bacterial and viral pathogens.
While skin is a natural barrier to pathogens, ”all it takes is a small cut to become infected,” Kezer said.
Right after a storm or a sewage spill people usually don’t have to be warned. “They can smell or see the pollution,” Kezer said. They don’t go in. Once the stench goes away people assume its safe. It’s not always.
Those who choose to trust their nose and eyes rather than listen to expert advice risk a host of ailments from something minor — common cold or ear infection — to something more serious — hepatitis or staph, Kezer points out.
Having a pristine beach is a point of civic pride for Coronado. Most would list it as one of the best in the state. For one year, 2012, the legendary Dr. Beach named it the best in the nation.
Having the beach experience spoiled for any reason is something the city works hard to avoid. While there is little it can do about sewage spills, it can and does keep the street pollution down by “practicing good housekeeping,” said Cliff Maurer, Director of Public Services and Engineering.
Every day trucks go out to clean residential streets, so that every residential block is swept once a week. Sidewalks are cleaned twice a month in the business district and all the wastewater is vacuumed up and shipped to Point Loma via the city’s diverter system.
“This removes a lot of the pollutions found on streets that get washed away in the first rain,” said Maurer.
The city has installed eleven mechanical storm diverts underground to collect rainwater and transport it to the Point Loma sewage treatment plant where it is treated before it’s flushed into the ocean.
Not only does it lower the amount of pollution washed into the ocean and bay, it makes the city look nice.
“Coronado is a beach town and we want to keep the water as clean [and safe] as possible,” he said.
