Environment | Daily Report

Evgeni Dinev/freedigitalphotos.netIn some places, surface waters are toxic.

If you’re an invertebrate, a report released last week by the California Water Boards is going to send chills down your, ahem, notochord.

But, because you’re reading this, you’re probably not a shrimp or daphnia-like species. And in that case, take what you will from the report.

According to scientists who have been monitoring and collecting data on the state’s water quality for the past 10 years, California’s surface waters are in bad shape.

Mind you, this is surface water, not drinking water. But the more polluted the water is coming into our drinking system, the more complicated and expensive it becomes to clean and filter, said David Clegern, a spokesman for the State Water Resources Control Board.

“We’re increasingly having to deal with this issue,” of toxic waters, said Clegern, “and people need to become aware of it.”

Clegern also pointed out that, though, that only 13 percent of the 992 sites tested were considered highly toxic. “We don’t think there is anything people need to panic about,” he said. “Thirteen percent is more than we’d like to see, but it is only 13 percent.”

Almost half of the sites tested had at least one sample that was considered highly toxic. Water was considered toxic when it killed most of the test animals immersed in it, such as baby shrimp, crustaceans and mollusks.

In the report, titled Summary of Toxicity in California Waters (2001-2009), the scientists warn that the animals used to test the water are very sensitive to toxins and chemicals. Therefore, their reactions “may or may not have any relationship to human health.”

Water samples came from sites across the state, from agricultural settings to cities and pristine mountain locations. Not surprisingly, upstream locations and mountainous areas had fewer toxic samples than those downstream or in farming and urban areas.

Chemicals identified as toxic included pesticides and ammonia. And while agricultural regions are certainly likely generators of the pesticides and ammonia, urban and residential areas are, too, say the scientists.

People in cities “are not focused as a unit,” on keeping pollutants and toxins out of the water and storm sewers like the agricultural industry is, Clegern said. And that’s a big part of the challenge in trying to reverse the toxicity.

While the state can talk to agricultural industry representatives about how to clean up the water and they in turn will work with farmers, urban settings do not have that same kind of organizational focus.

“People are not aware of the little things they are doing,” Clegern said.

“So, when you dump something onto the street, or throw trash in the storm sewer, or don’t fix a broken pipe,” it’s going to affect water quality, he said.