Association of Urban Runoff with Coastal Water Quality in Orange County, California

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baker, Dean B. ; Dwight RH ; Olson BH ; Semenza JC
• Description:
  The associations between storm events, urban runoff, and coastal water quality have not been well investigated. A temporal and spatial analysis of 2 years of data was conducted to determine associations between urban river discharge and indicator bacteria levels for Southern California beaches and evaluate the contribution of anomalous precipitation to the association. Data show beaches next to rivers had the highest bacterial levels in both wet and dry seasons. Bacterial levels rose substantially across all sites during wet months, and river discharge and bacterial levels were all highest during the winter with the most rainfall. Precipitation was significantly associated (Spearman rank bivariate correlation, P < 0.01) with water discharged from the rivers. River discharge was significantly associated with bacterial levels at 20 out of 22 beaches, with the strongest associations at sites next to rivers. The results indicate that urban river discharge is a primary source of Southern California's coastal water pollution and, as a result, swimming at beaches near rivers may pose a significant public health risk. The strong association found between precipitation and water pollution may be relevant to studies of potential health effects associated with climate change. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Climate Change Environmental Pollution Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Urban Stormwater Runoff Bacteria Climate Change Coastal Waters El Nino Environmental Contamination Environmental Health Monitoring Ground Water Indicator Bacteria Ocean Seasonal Factors Storm Drains Storms Water Quality

  More +
• ISSN:
  1061-4303
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  82-90
• Volume:
  74
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058116
• Citation:
  Water Environ Res 2002 Jan-Feb; 74(1):82-90
• Contact Point Address:
  Betty H. Olson, Environmental Health Science and Policy Program, School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697
• Email:
  bholson@uci.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990701
• Source Full Name:
  Water Environment Research
• End Date:
  20040630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d07c6dcb297187987b3b68a468033fff7d0dac5deed6aac5075965432271332332bd7e62e9214a8dd0f8f2b769fb14a0cc0057e75f91845db4458106d37f6438
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/221262/cdc_221262_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.43 MB ]