Earth & Sky

Stormwater problems cause beach closures

Rainwater from a littered street pours into a gutter. Many storm drains such as this drain directly to the ocean, with no biotic process in between to clean the waste water before it pollutes the ocean. Photo: Pete Jelliffe

This year, the National Resources Defense Council reported that 2006 had a record number of beach closings and advisories.

The number was up 28% in 2006 in contrast to 2005. And the trend is expected to continue, according to Nancy Stoner, director of the Clean Water Project for the National Resources Defense Council.

Nancy Stoner: What we have is an unaddressed pollution source problem. But we’re not doing enough to address those sources, the two biggest of which are contaminated stormwater and sewage.

Contaminated stormwater caused 40% of beach closings and advisories in 2006. Stoner said the problem is increased land development. As coastal lands are paved and built upon, rainwater flows down streets and into pipes that empty directly into waterways.

Nancy Stoner: There’s nothing between the muck on the street and the beach. There’s no treatment plant, and there’s no vegetation to slow it down, there’s very little in terms of biotic processes.

The solution, Stoner said, is to treat this rainwater runoff as part of the natural ecosystem rather than as waste. Rainwater barrels, rain gardens, and green roofs can be incorporated into building design to capture stormwater for use by plants and humans.

Written by Lindsay Patterson