Governor Eliminates Beach Water Quality Funding

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published September 25, 2008 at 12:46 PM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Environmental groups say a decision by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to eliminate all state funding for beach water quality monitoring could endanger public health. The Governor's line-item veto mean

Environmental groups say a decision by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to eliminate all state funding for beach water quality monitoring could endanger public health. The Governor's line-item veto means San Diego County will have to pick up the cost for the monitoring. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

Heal The Bay Water Quality Director Kirsten James says Schwarzenegger's decision to eliminate all state funding for beach water quality monitoring is a blow to a successful statewide program.

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James: This beach water quality monitoring is essential to be able to inform the public of the quality of the beaches they may be visiting and also to track problem areas that need to be fixed or cleaned up.

The Governor's veto means monitoring in the state's 15 coastal counties - including San Diego - could be eliminated or severely curtailed because of the nearly $1 million cutback.

James says ocean users are now facing increased health risks.

Bruce Reznik is the Executive Director of San Diego Coastkeeper.

He says the state's budget crisis is real.

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But Reznik says protecting public health and safety should be a top priority.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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