PUB00111

• Year: 1996
• Title: Layperson's Guide to Water Pollution
• CWCB Section: Interstate & Federal
• Author: California Water Education Foundation
• Description: Layperson's Guide to Water Pollution
• Publications - Doc Type: Other

Engine emissions, such as nitrogen oxide, pollute
the air first and water second. Among the byproducts
of partially com busted fuel are polynuclear aromafic
hydrocarbons, which are toxic to wildlife in low
doses and are suspected of causing cancer in high
doses.

But while motor vehicles significantly define urban
runoff, they also demonstrate the potential for
solutions. Since lead was phased out as a gasoline
additive in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the levels
of lead in urban runoff have been reduced signifi.
cantly.

Chemicals used in and around houses are another
common pollutant in urban runoff. Some research
shows that backyard gardeners are more likely to
over-apply pesticides and fertilizers than farmers.
Yard and animal waste often makes its way into
neighborhood gutters and ravines. Even soaps and
detergents are harmful- toxic by themselves yet also
responsible for washing oil, grease and other pollut-
ants into storm drains.

Construction sites can be a major source of sediment
in urban streams. As vegetation is cleared and heavy
equipment moves the earth around the site, the bare
soil is exposed to rain and becomes vulnerable to
erosion.

SANTA MONICA BAY

Los Angeles County is drained by 1,000 miles
of storm drains, carrying some of the most
polluted urban runoff in the nation, and deliver-
ing most of it to the popular beaches of Santa
Monica Bay. In some cases, studies have found
the runoff to be as noxious as sewage. tn 1989,
the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
calculated that 8 inches of rain in the basin
washed 150,000 pounds of lead, 500,000 pounds
of zinc and 11,000 pounds of cadmium into
the bay.

Polluted runoff is the single greatest source of
pollution to the bay, accounting for one-fourth of
the water quality problems. Studies by the
University of California have found the greatest
source of polluted runoff to be residential areas,
primarily because they make up so much of the
southern California landscape.

Regional officials have fried to solve the prob-
lem. Los Angeles County in 1990 was issued one

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In watersheds that are contaminated by urban areas
- such as that of Santa Monica Bay, residential areas
are the largest sources of pollutants. Nearly all of
the pollutants that can be found in runoff can be found
in urban runoff, making multiple strategies neces-
sary to curtail pollution.

Motor l'l'hides - and the
streets, parking lots and
highways they trarel on -
are perhaps rhe biggesr
sources of urban pollution.

of the earliest stormwater permits in the nation.
And a basin-wide project sponsored by EPA
yielded a $67 million plan to clean up urban run-
off and restore the bay. The plan was approved
in 1996 by the Los Angeles Regional Water Qual-
ity Control Board after 18 months of negotiations
with the county and 85 cities.

Environmental groups, such as Heal the Bay,
have launched widespread education programs
to make urban residents understand how com-
mon pollutants in the neighborhoods can degrade
the beaches they use miles away.

But the controversy continues. NRDC success-
fully sued Caltrans for not controlling runoff from
its extensive freeway systems. It has sued Los
Angeles County for not implementing adequate
monitoring as part of its Best Management
Practices. And just to the south, NRDC sued the
Port of Long Beach for not properly implement-
ing its stormwater permit.

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