Brenda Tran

Jaya Dubey
Writing 39C
9 May 2014
Comp II: Steps to Healing the Santa Monica Bays
When one envisions the typical life of a California resident, many see days
filled with adventure, sun, and a beautiful background provided by the clean
California beaches. However, after taking a recent trip to the beach, especially to
those located in Santa Monica, many are shocked by what they see. Beaches
nowadays are victims of urban runoff, which is a process known to bring land
sediments and pollutants from urban lands to the beach waters. It carries these
pollutants such as litter, industrial pollutants and pesticides to the beach, which can
lead to various harmful effects contributing to localized flooding and beach closures.
In the city of Santa Monica alone, over 325,000 gallons of runoff travels through the
drainage system everyday, even through dry seasons.
This dangerous process brings long terms effects that have yet to be solved.
Currently, urban runoff is the single largest threat to the citys health as it has
brought higher temperatures, disrupted water routes, and ultimately pollution that
can forever change marine life. The impacts of this problem have also increased the
risks that swimmers are put through when they swim near storm drains. These
effects are huge factors in the changes that occur to our ever-important source,
water. Everything and anyone who relies on water is affected by urban runoff.
Although attempts have been made to improve the state of our beaches and water,
such as Santa Monicas fundamental water runoff facility that helps lessen the
amount of runoff that enters the water, the problem still exists today.
With these effects in action, they bring upon several long-term causes to
those who rely on beaches and most importantly, the water provided by these
beaches. The effects attached to Urban Runoff translate into almost every aspect of
life. They can lead to losses in the tourist economy, recreational resources, and
businesses revolved around the marine life. It also influences the quality of our
water in an adverse way and the vitality of our natural resources. Thus, the actions
to help prevent these damages have also seen changes as the costs to solve these
problems have continually increased. Therefore, it is imperative to act now before
urban runoff brings more chaos to the world. Ultimately, to improve urban runoff,
the solutions of updating the Industrial General Stormwater permit and to place
regulations on cruise vessels have been suggested.
As time progresses, this problem becomes evidently worse, many do not
realize that we have to take action now. This problem of urban runoff has been
quickly escalating since the 20
th
century, which marks the start of urbanization. As
more lands begin to get built on, there are fewer waterways for water to travel
through during wet seasons. This explains why when it rains, water now gains
speed and volume at an alarming rate. To treat this, many cities, especially Santa
Monica have pitched in the idea of installing more drainage systems. However, since
installing their citys water drainage system, the problem still exists which leads to
the ever increasing price of environmental costs.