Bacteria concerns at Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz

Visitors travel from all over the world to surf the waves in Santa Cruz, but at Cowell Beach, local say they’re hesitant to get in the water.

“People get sick, they can get infections. It’s generally worse for kids,” said Nik Strong-Cvetich with Save the Waves Coalition.

Strong-Cvetich is part of the Cowell’s Working Group. They are a team of city and community leaders working to reduce bacteria levels in the water, specifically E.coli.

After a year of testing the water and analyzing the data, the group presented their findings at a public meeting Monday night.

“We’ve noticed that there’s a very distinctive spike in bacteria concentrations around the middle to end of July,” said Strong-Cvetich.

The group also measured the highest concentration of fecal matter at the wharf. Additional tests found beachgoers were not contributing to the bacteria on the water. The group thinksbirds nesting on the wharf are the problem.

“Therefore we are going to try and see if we can take immediate action to address that in a humane matter so that the birds are fine, but remove them from that area so they are not dropping into the ocean right there where we have those high hits of bacteria counts,” said Scott Collins with the city of Santa Cruz.

Group leaders hope this move will take Cowell Beach off Heal the Bays beach bummer list – a ranking of the beachesin thestate with the worst water quality.

“The economic driver for this community is tourism. People come to this city because of the beaches, Cowell beach in particular,” said Collins.

The Cowell’s Working Group also includes the Surfrider Foundation, the County of Santa Cruz, the Sierra Club and the Coastal Watershed Council.