Water news for a thirsty world…

 

By Brad Melekian (San Diego Union-Tribune)

A few weeks ago, a crisp northwest swell came down from the Gulf of Alaska, part of a storm that brought several inches of rain and rough weather to San Diego County.

Today, it’s common knowledge that it’s best practice to avoid ocean water in Southern California after a rain, and this storm was a case in point. Because it was one of the first heavy rains of the year, the storm flushed out waterways reaching as far as 100 miles inland, relieving watersheds of months of accumulated debris jettisoned on the tops of surging creekbeds. At the ocean, estuaries unleashed the now-expected Styrofoam cups, bottles, plastic bags and other trash into the ocean and eventually onto beaches, also flushing the watersheds of all the fertilizers, sewage and bacteria that get deposited directly into the Pacific Ocean during every heavy storm. Read More…

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