June Casagrande
A reprieve from high bacteria levels in the waters around Newport
Island has proved to be brief.
City water quality officials think they have found the reason why
bacteria levels in these West Newport channels have shot up after a
year of marked decreases. The problem may lie in the sponge-like
devices that are part of the storm drain filters, Asst. City Manager
Dave Kiff said. Antibacterial filter devices should be in the
filters, he said.
"We think we may not have used the correct filter media," Kiff
said.
When the antibacterial inserts were used last year, the waters in
the bay around Newport Island at Channel Place Park and near 43rd
Street dropped to below state minimums for the first time ever. Now
that water-quality tests show bacteria levels on the rise, city
workers will insert new antibacterial devices into the storm drain
filters in hopes of recreating last year's success.
"We're frustrated," said Councilman Tod Ridgeway, who serves on
the city's Coastal/Bay Water Quality Citizens Advisory Committee.
If the new filter devices don't fix the problem, he said, there
aren't many options left for improving water quality in the area.
"Newport Island is up at the far end of the bay and it doesn't get
adequate flushing," Ridgeway said. "Long term, it may be that the
only way to ultimately fix it is by getting a flushing pipe out to
the ocean. That's a couple-million-dollar fix."
The bad water-quality news for West Newport channels came with
some good news: Waters at Dunes Lagoon continue to get a clean bill
of health.
Since the city installed a storm drain diversion, sending nearby
runoff into the sewer system instead of the storm drain, the Dunes
Lagoon has enjoyed low bacteria levels in the water.
