Newport waterways tapped for cleanup

A local water-quality advocacy group, Orange County Coastkeeper, is suggesting two Newport Beach waterways be added to a list of those that are considered polluted and in need of cleanup.

After a two-year study, Coastkeeper recommended in February that water officials put Morning Canyon and the Delhi Channel, as well as two channels in Huntington Beach and several others in Orange County, on a list of polluted waterways.

The study looked for excessive amounts of nutrients that cause algae blooms and bacteria that could be a threat to people using the waterways.

Putting a body of water on the impaired list tells cities and counties responsible for the waterways that getting it cleaned up is a priority, said Ray Hiemstra, Coastkeeper's associate director of projects.

"This is the first real notice to these cities and the county that there's a real problem that has to be paid attention to and there's real data to back it up," he said.

"It's not just a useless thing [where] we're just making somebody look bad and nothing's ever going to happen."

After waterways are listed as polluted, the state creates and enforces standards designed to limit the amount of pollutants that can go into them.

Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said the city is aware of the problems with its waterways.

Kiff said he welcomes new water-quality standards because they come with a cleanup plan.

The Coastkeeper study was requested by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, which will consider what to add to the list and take public input before the State Water Resources Control Board makes a final decision this fall.