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Foul Smell in Capitola Village a Natural Occurrence
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Foul Smell in Capitola Village a Natural Occurrence
Officials Say a Dry Winter Has Stagnated Lagoon Waters
By Michael Thomas
An overpowering odor has plagued the Capitola Esplanade this month, but officials say the smell comes from organic matter rotting on the creek bottom. Though it’s unpleasant for visitors and employees of beach-area shops and restaurants, the smell poses no health hazards, Capitola officials say.
“It’s kelp, sea grass and leaves in Soquel Creek rotting,” explained Capitola Public Works Director Steve Jesberg. “The high tide and wave actions will wash stuff into the creek this time of year and then the rains will wash them out.”
At least the rains flush such organic matter in any normal winter month. However, January has been nearly bone dry in Santa Cruz County. Only two-tenths of an inch of precipitation was recorded in January, according to National Weather Service forecaster Dan Gudgel. The average is 6.27 inches for January in Santa Cruz, making the start of this year the driest in decades.
Without rain to flush the creek mouth, bacteria and fungus have bloomed in the water, leaving some spots of the creek looking white or blue.
Smell Not Manmade
The bacteria present in the lagoon waters are not the result of human activity, according to Rochelle Lather, Senior Civil Engineer for County Public Works.
“Our sewer system is pretty tight down there,” Lather said. “To have that kind of smell from [the sewer system] would be a huge spill and nothing like that is happening.” John Ricker, of County Environmental Health, said the odor is not linked to any serious public health hazard.
“We test the water routinely, but we’ve been doing more testing because of the odor,” he said. “The [fecal coliform] bacteria levels are normal.”
While “normal” for the Soquel Creek mouth often means a substantial amount of bacteria, the higher counts have been attributed in part to bird activity along the creek. Still, the fecal coliform bacteria aren’t contributing to the odor, according to Jesberg.
Jesberg said the smell in Capitola Village hasn’t been this bad in decades.
“It used to be we would open the lagoon right after the Begonia Festival even if there weren’t rains and this would happen,” he said.
He added that environmental laws prohibit doing anything to flush the creek.
“It’s a natural process and there’s nothing we can really do about it,” Jesberg said, “[except] rain dance, I guess.”
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