When I ran for City Council a couple of years ago and knocked on
doors to meet Laguna residents, the most common complaint I heard from
parents was a concern about ocean water pollution.
I heard pretty disturbing stories from some very angry parents about
how kids had gotten sick while surfing or skim boarding and, as a result,
were forbidden to play in the beach in their own back yard.
As a result of this input, I educated myself on the subject.
What many don't understand is that, in large part, we are creating
this problem ourselves. It's not deliberate, it's just a lack of
understanding as to what's causing the pollution. I am convinced that
once there's awareness, we will see change.
A couple of decades ago, the ocean, rivers, creeks, lakes and streams
were polluted heavily from what is called "point source" pollution --
that is, pollution which is created from sources that can be readily
identified, such as manufacturing plants, mills, etc.
With the passing of the Federal Clean Water Act, jurisdictions and
corporations were forced to revise their ways of doing business and much
of the type of pollution we saw in those days has been corrected. But,
understand, it took years to get to this point.
Much of the pollution we are seeing today is as a result of the things
that we as counties, cities, homeowners and business owners (including
contractors, landscapers, etc.) do in our daily lives. Interestingly,
what we all should know is that flowing water from our streets and yards
is the conduit that contributes to what is called "non-point-source" (no
one specific source) pollution. Flowing water carries sediment, yard
chemicals, car chemicals (oil and other fluids), animal droppings -- and
much, much more into our storm drains that typically empties into guess
where?
Recently, I launched a program with a partner called Kids for Clean
Water that is offered to cities to teach kids about urban run-off
prevention and water conservation. We believe that behaviors will need to
change and that if we educate kids these behaviors will be ingrained once
they own homes and operate businesses.
We have produced a baseline survey for kids to measure their awareness
of concepts related to preventing run-off and using less water, which
will be used by participating cities. After the surveys are conducted,
the cities will then have the opportunity to launch kids' education
programs to create an understanding of the concepts required to reduce
pollution in the ocean.
