If you check the ocean for hazards before you take a dip, you may have to change where you look for that information.
It’s been weeks since frequent surfer Scott Moon has been able to get back into the water, thanks to the multiple storms that recently hit the Central Coast.
“The runoff isn't really kind to your body when you get out there,” Moon said. “So I wanted to wait for it to clean up a little bit.”
Moon said he waits longer than the suggested three days after a rainstorm to make sure most of the bad bacteria is away from the shore. When he goes out to surf, he usually checks for hazards online.
Now, surfers like Moon have one less place to check for hazards in the water after San Luis Obispo County’s Surf Safe SLO website ran out of funding for the season.
“There can be issues with your gut,” Moon said. “There can be issues with staff. So if you have cuts or open wounds that can really present a problem to your system, and that's what we want to try and avoid.”
I reached out to Peter Hague, the director of San Luis Obispo County’s Environmental Health Services. He said the county has been given a grant from the state to analyze water samples across the Central Coast. However, the grant amount hasn’t changed in ten years. With labor costs, Hague said it’s hard to stretch the grant money throughout the entire year.
Natalie Testerman is another frequent surfer, who also exercises caution when getting into the water. “...If you're going to be in the water, you're definitely getting it in your system,” Testerman said. “I would like to know that it's clean enough to go out.”
Though Surf Safe SLO isn’t available for the winter, surfers Makayla spoke to, said they have other ways of checking the water quality. Surfline regularly updates the cameras, forecasts and reports on its website. Based locally, Surfrider is nonprofit that independently tests water levels at beaches across the California coast, including Central Coast communities.
San Luis Obispo County’s Environmental Health Services says water testing from the county will start up again on April 1.
