Heal the Bay Blog

Great news from Sacramento: Gov. Jerry Brown just signed AB 2403 into law, making it easier for public agencies in California to fund and build projects that capture and reuse stormwater and urban runoff.

Recognizing that stormwater has become a valuable source of heightened local water supply, AB 2403 formally clarifies the definition of “water” under 218 to include urban runoff and all other potential sources of water.

Written by Assemblymember Anthony Rendon, the new law enables public agencies to more easily secure funding for multi-benefit projects that capture and infiltrate stormwater for use in recharging groundwater supplies. In the past, agencies would have to take a stormwater fee measure to voters, and secure at least two-thirds approval from the general electorate – a high bar to meet. Under the streamlined process in AB 2403, 50% of landowners would have to protest to prevent an agency from imposing a fee.

Heal the Bay played the lead role in shepherding AB 2403 through the Capitol: “After years of working on this issue, we are gratified to see the state treating stormwater as a resource rather than a nuisance,” said Kirsten James, Heal the Bay’s science and policy director for water quality. “We now look forward to working with progressive agencies to implement smart, green infrastructure both here in Los Angeles and statewide.”

Urbanized areas of California have the potential to harness nearly half-a-million acre feet of water via stormwater capture each year, according to a recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Pacific Institute. That’s enough to meet all the water needs of 1 million families for an entire year.

Beyond making it easier to increase local water supplies, AB 2403 will enable agencies to greatly reduce the amount of pollution funneled onto California shorelines each year. Urban runoff remains the No. 1 source of pollution in our oceans and beaches statewide. For example, a single typical day of rainfall spews an estimated 10 billion gallons of runoff into Santa Monica Bay, untreated and unchecked. That’s the equivalent of roughly 100 Rose Bowl stadiums’ worth of dirty water.

Advocates also note that investing in green infrastructure will stimulate the economy and create jobs. At least 120,000 new jobs would be created in the state of California if public investment in stormwater management programs reached levels recommended by the EPA, according to a recent study by Green For All.

As the largest consumer cooperative in the country, REI walks the talk–or hikes the hike, as it were. Champions of environmental stewardship and outdoor education, they donate millions of dollars and volunteer hours each year to support the vital work of nonprofits like Heal the Bay. Check out their unique GeoStories site for a multimedia peek into the environmental causes they support around the country.

Our Stream Team program has been the lucky beneficiary of REI’s generosity for years. Without REI’s support, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish our critical Malibu Creek water quality monitoring and habitat restoration efforts.

Heal the Bay believes in curious, conscious, continual exploration and preservation of our aquatic environment, and REI embodies those values.

Thanks, REI, for helping us heal the Bay!

Corporate Healer cleanups in recent weeks chalked up some impressive numbers: collectively, employees of these civic-minded corporations amassed more than 300 pounds of trash and more than 3,000 cigarette butts!  Thanks so much to the following ten Corporate Healers: AOL, Shopzilla, Avery Dennison, Symantec, Lionsgate Entertainment, Horizon Media, Salesforce, Ares Management, Disney VoluntEARS and Performics.

Thanks also to the Santa Monica Rotary Foundation for supporting our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium and we’re grateful that Safeway Foundation is once again committed to helping with Coastal Cleanup Day.  And last but not least, we thank the David and Lucile Packard Foundation for their generous support of our Sustainable Fisheries work.

Paddles up! Big thanks to the Santa Monica Pier Paddleboard Race and Ocean Festival for bequeathing Heal the Bay and our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium with a portion of the net proceeds from the event! And don’t worry — it’s not too late to register for the race this Saturday!

And deeply soulful thanks are due to the Main Street Santa Monica Summer SOULstice festival, coming up on June 22. Live music, sidewalk sales, food and incredible shopping discounts all month long are at the heart of this citywide shindig. Best of all, a portion of event revenues will support our work at Heal the Bay! One love.

Last but not least: Where would we be without Rubio’s. Hungry and bagless, that’s where. From catering our events to donating thousands of reusable bags in honor of this Sunday’s World Oceans Day, our favorite fish taqueria is truly deserving of our kudos.

We celebrated Earth Day last Saturday with about 1,800 friends who cleaned the beach on the North side of the Santa Monica Pier, picking up more than 600 pounds of trash. Some also built sand castles and visited our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium – and a few capped the day with a cold Heal the Bay IPA.

Thanks to Stephen Supernor and his AmeriCorps group of Team Blue 4-Pacific region volunteers who provided help toting supplies and giving safety talks for the beach cleanup.  

Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds sponsored the family sand castle building contest, allowing us to provide everyone with those essential tools: a bucket and shovel. 

Kudos to our Corporate partners who took sandcastle-building to another level. The following nine firms participated: ARC Engineering, Bernards, Gensler, HOK, Pivot, REI, RTKL, Steinberg Architects and Tangram.

In the Aquarium, underwater photographer Richard Salas took us all along on his dives from Mexico to the Equator, sharing awe-inspiring photographs and accompanying stories.

Looking ahead, we’re thankful to Union Bank for renewing support for Coastal Cleanup Day.

The time has come to cast your ballots!

Attention film buffs: Our Stoked on the Coast Student Film Festival is closed to new submissions but OPEN for public voting between now and midnight, Saturday, September 12. Please share the link and encourage your friends to vote!

Stoked on the Coast Student Film Festival Background

Supported by a generous grant from the California Coastal Conservancy, Stoked on the Coast is a new kind of film festival organized by Heal the Bay staff. As we’re firm believers in the wisdom of children, the contest is only open to students from 5th grade through age 21. We’re inviting young auteurs throughout California to submit a short film (from six seconds to three minutes) that tells the story of why they’re passionate about the ocean. It can be straightforward or silly, meditative or madcap, narrative or stream-of-conscious — it just needs to be authentic.

“This contest gives us a unique perspective on marine conservation: By seeing how the ocean creatively inspires young people, we can better channel that energy into the next generation of stewards,” says Meredith McCarthy, our programs director.

It wouldn’t be a festival without pomp and circumstance, so we’ll be hosting a special Stoked on the Coast soiree later this summer. All entries will be screened, and a variety of prizes will be awarded by celebrity judges. Ultimately, every Stoker is a winner.

Learn more about the festival and enter your films here.

Get stoked, and please share with educators, young film buffs and ocean-lovers everywhere!

Got questions? Contact Edward Murphy, Heal the Bay’s Watershed Education Manager and Stoked on the Coast program coordinator.

Ruskin Hartley, Heal the Bay’s president, has found a reason to love an even rougher morning commute. 

It’s not often that a warning sign on my daily commute makes me happy. But this one did: In bold orange letters, it declared “Avoid PCH South of Temescal 2-5-14 to 4-15-15.” Anyone who knows the Pacific Coast Highway knows that is essentially impossible in Los Angeles. So why was I happy? Because this time, the big orange warning was a beacon of hope for the Bay.

A lot of construction is pretty mundane — filling pot holes or adding lanes so you can get to the next jam a little faster. This one, however, does something more important that will benefit millions every year. Let me explain.

Every day when I drive along the Bay there are a few places near the shoreline at creek and stormdrain outlets where water collects in the sand. Sometimes even at the end of summer these pools still lurk, rife with bacteria. One of these is right where Chautauqua Boulevard meets the Bay in Santa Monica Canyon. This stagnant pool is caused runoff from the canyon that has bypassed the current low-flow diversion. Upstream there are about 1,600 acres that drain to this one point. In a significant rainstorm the channel will breach the sandbar and flush a toxic soup of trash, bacteria and heavy metals into the Bay. But even in dry weather, without a properly maintained low-flow diversion this channel can seep the runoff from our daily lives — leaky pipes, irrigation water, washing your car – directly to the beach. All that water flows downstream, gathering nutrients and pollutants, until it hits the beach, resulting in a ponded area that attracts birds and other fecal bacteria sources. Authorities then advise everyone to keep away due to high bacteria levels. It’s a public health nuisance on one of the world’s most beautiful beaches.

Once this project is completed that stagnant pool will be history. The City of Los Angeles is about to embark on an $8 million, nine-month project to extend a 48-inch sewer line that that will divert all dry season runoff to the Hyperion treatment plant. Some of it will even be treated locally to provide irrigation water for the surrounding community. This is the next phase of the $20 million Coastal Interceptor Relief Sewer. When completed, it will help keep bacteria levels in Santa Monica Bay down and help protect your health every time you visit the beach.

For the past 29 years, Heal the Bay has been leading the charge to clean up this pollution by establishing strict pollution limits and by working with public agencies to secure the funding needed to upgrade our aging infrastructure. There’s much more work to be done, but this is an important next step.

I think a little traffic is a small price to pay to help protect the health of people who visit these beaches every year. I’ll report back next year and let you know how it worked.

So next time you’re stuck in traffic on PCH, remember that a healthier Bay is on its way…even if you’re not.