As summer nears, ocean cleanliness is looking up at Poche, one of California’s most notorious beaches for polluted surf.
Heal the Bay, an environmental group that publishes an annual California Beach Report Card at healthebay.org, says Feb. 6 was the last time Poche got an F for water quality. Grades issued since then have been A, A, A+ and A+.
To put it into perspective, Heal the Bay's report card has shown Poche getting an F for summer ocean-water quality every year since 2000 – except 2005, when it got a D. The beach appears yearly in Heal the Bay's list of Top 10 California Beach Bummers. So the recent string of A grades has been a welcome surprise.
"It was nice to see," said Tom Bonigut, San Clemente's assistant city engineer. He said he expects Poche will appear on Heal the Bay's 2012-13 California Beach Bummers list because the upturn came too late. But he and other local officials are hoping the county and the city are on the right track toward pulling Poche off the list and assuring bathers they can feel comfortable in the beach's waves this summer.
REASONS TO SMILE
According to a city report:
The county's $3 million ultraviolet filtration system that collects dirty water from Prima Deshecha's flood-control channel and cleans it is producing clean water that meets state standards.
•A $265,000 study commissioned by the city to trace the sources of pollution in a 4,400-acre watershed that drains to Poche Beach found that birds in Poche's pond or just offshore are the main polluters.
•In February, the state Coastal Commission agreed to allow discharge of the filtered water permanently at the seaward end of the pond, instead of right into the pond.
The filtration system, installed in 2009, took time to fine-tune but now works well, Bonigut said. "The water quality coming out of the treatment system is excellent. Urban runoff from the city of San Clemente is not contributing to what's going on at Poche anymore."
Chasing away birds
In September, the city spent $8,000 to see whether a falconer brandishing trained predators for a month to shoo away sea gulls from Poche Beach would improve ocean quality. A hawk and a falcon were effective at clearing the beach and pond, but officials said gulls lingered offshore, and ocean bacteria readings stayed high.
In February, the county invested $1,000 in an ultrasound system that emits high-frequency noise that birds don't like. The crew that set it up reported that within a week, the birds were gone – and they have stayed away.
About the same time, Prima Deshecha Landfill three miles inland from Poche Beach hired a falconer to keep gulls from feasting on trash and force them to seek free food elsewhere. Gulls from Poche go there to eat. The $36,000 test was judged a success.
This fall, the county will look to hire a falconer full time during gull season, said Julie Chay, public information officer for OC Waste and Recycling.
One difference in the two falcon experiments was that the city required the predators at Poche to be tethered. The county allowed the predators at Prima Deshecha to fly.
No one can say whether ultrasound at Poche, falcons at Prima Deshecha or an early northward migration of gulls led to Poche's A-plus grades. Greg Dayak, landfill superintendent, said prime sea gull season at Prima Deshecha normally is October through March or April.
Bonigut said county and city officials are discussing ways to keep the pond level to a minimum for the summer season and shape the outlet in a way that prevents the cleaned water from entering the pond, as it often does now.
Adam Chavez, whose predators patrolled Prima Deshecha in the landfill's experiment, said his birds effectively kept gulls from eating and lowered the numbers.
He said he hopes to win a contract to work his predators regularly at Prima this fall. He added that he doubts ultrasound at Poche could work for long, as gulls would just get used to it.
Steve Bonhall, who oversees south coastal operations for OC Parks, said he hopes ultrasound can deter Poche birds on a long-term basis. He said county staff searched online and found the device – Bird-X's Ultrason X model, plus a solar panel to power it and a stainless-steel case – and, after some research, decided it was worth a try.
He said humans can't hear the sound. Birds can. So can dogs, but they aren't supposed to be on the beach. Neighbors were notified in advance, Bonhall said, and the signal was pointed away from homes and toward the problem areas – the shore and the pond.
"I haven't had any complaints from any homeowners or dog owners," Bonhall said. He said the device emits a mild sound audible to humans, just to confirm it is operating.