At REEF, the beach and ocean are near to our hearts. That’s why since 2016, we’ve supported the Surfrider Foundation’s mission to protect clean water and healthy beaches. In 2018, we co-founded the Better Beach Alliance in support of Surfrider’s national Beach Cleanup program. In 2020, we expanded that support to help our local Surfrider chapter facilitate water quality testing at the beaches in our own backyard, by hosting their new community lab here in North San Diego County.
Each year, Surfrider chapters throughout the country conduct thousands of water quality tests to help identify and address sources of pollution, and inform the public to keep surfers, swimmers and beachgoers (you!) safe. As surf and beach enthusiasts in the San Diego community, some of our staff are actively involved in volunteering with their local Surfrider chapter’s water quality monitoring program.
Surfrider’s San Diego County Chapter tests water from beaches throughout the entire county, through their local Blue Water Task Force program. So far this year, the San Diego County Blue Water Task Force has conducted about 50 tests at the community lab here at REEF headquarters, bringing us to a total of at least 500 tests conducted since the lab’s establishment! The local Surfrider team is currently testing water from 6 coastal sites in North San Diego County, including: San Elijo Lagoon, Ponto/Batiquitos Lagoon, Del Mar Dog Beach, Moonlight Beach, Oceanside Pier and Torrey Pines North Beach.
Together, the data from these different sampling sites have supported Surfrider San Diego in…
- Sharing regular updates with the community via Surfrider San Diego's Weekend Beach Report, found at the bottom of the local chapter’s Blue Water Task Force webpage.
- Contributing critical local information to Surfrider’s national water quality database.
- Bolstering Surfrider’s ongoing Clean Border Water Now campaign to address and eliminate the sewage, trash, sediment and chemical waste that plagues our ocean, waves and beaches in the Southern California border region.
…All of which collectively support Surfrider’s key priorities in 2022, such as securing federal funding for water quality testing, updating failing storm and wastewater infrastructure, and designating the EPA to address transboundary pollution at California’s southern border. You can read more about Surfrider’s 2022 federal priorities here, and support these campaigns by contacting your representatives in only a few clicks — just follow the links below!
If you’re interested in learning more about protecting clean water at your local beach and beyond, you can also check out Surfrider’s blog to read more on Personal Actions to Stop Sewage Pollution in Your Community.
If you’re more the get-out-and-do type, Surfrider relies on passionate volunteers and activists like you to take part in what we call “community science” — gathering data in your community and reporting your findings to Surfrider’s national databases — to help find ways to reduce sources of pollution and keep our beaches and waterways safe for everyone to enjoy. You can find your local Surfrider chapter here, and check out your local water quality any time here! And finally, learn more about our longstanding partnership with Surfrider and how you can take action with us year-round through the Better Beach Alliance, here.