Miocean's Mission Statement
To clean up our local shoreline using a business approach and applying expertise, passion and resources for measurable improvements.
Our Board members identify pollution reduction projects at "the tipping point" - fully defined, permitted, agency-sponsored projects that need community-based funding. Miocean seeks worthwhile projects along the Southern California shoreline that will yield measurable, visible results within 1-2 years. The Foundation targets 2-4 projects each year, allocating resources to pollution prevention, education and structural improvements to reduce urban run-off and enhance water quality.
Miocean recently completed its seventh project at Poche Beach, San Clemente, partnering with the County of Orange. To date, Miocean-supported projects have eliminated more than 1.2 million gallons each day of polluted water from our coastline. In addition, the new Miocean Back Bay Science Center will expedite laboratory testing and information feedback to the community for our 42-miles of Orange County coastline and offers an additional opportunity for kids to learn about urban run-off through field trips.
This expands our ongoing educational outreach. More than 10,000 Southern Californian 5th graders have "graduated" from Miocean's highly regarded Watershed Education Program at the Dana Point Ocean Institute.
The Miocean Foundation executes and audits its projects under the guidance of our all-volunteer Board of Directors.
The Miocean Team
Miocean's Board of Directors is comprised of Orange County business leaders who share a passion for protecting our ocean.
- Applies a business approach to cleaning up our oceans.
- Emphasizes a solutions-driven organization focused on measurable projects.
- Recognizes that each beach has unique problems and circumstances, thus requiring specialized solutions.
- Provides funds to grassroots environmental organizations or partnering with them for specific projects and programs.
- Contributes project management and/or technical expertise to solve ocean pollution.
- Maintains a high profile on local water quality task forces and participates in identifying long-tern solutions.
Miocean is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to protecting and improving Orange County's 42-mile coastline by reducing urban run-off pollution. We seek to clean up our oceans with knowledge, passion and commitment, led by an all-volunteer Board of local business leaders who share a deep passion for protecting our ocean, and supported by an advisory board of corporate and private sponsors, local elected officials, community leaders and ocean-oriented industry leaders.
We are a 501(c)3 IRS-registered non-profit organization, which began in 2001 when one of our founding members nearly died after contracting a staph infection while teaching children to surf at Doheny Beach. Stunned by the lack of action to stop the urban pollution problem that caused the infection, he rallied his business peers to form Miocean and create direct solutions to reduce urban run-off. Today, Miocean partners with local counties, cities, water districts, and other non-governmental organizations to support focused projects and education that can reduce urban run-off. We apply proven business approaches, knowledge and commitment to achieve these goals.
Miocean focuses on pollution reduction projects that are fully defined, permitted, agency-sponsored projects that need community-based funding, with a focus on projects along the Southern California shoreline that will yield measurable, visible results within 1-2 years.
We have completed two major projects in Dana Point: a $1.2 million filtration/diversion system at Doheny State Beach, and a $6.7 million ozone filtration system at Salt Creek. Miocean, since 2005 has also supported a unique educational program for 5th grade students through the Ocean Institute in Dana Point and recently completed its first major project in Newport Beach for the new Back Bay Science Center in Newport Beach to support faster water quality testing techniques and watershed educational programs. Miocean has also supported smaller watershed educational projects such as the Wyland Mobile Classroom for young children and Orange County Water Camp for 8th and 9th graders.
We partner with local counties, cities, water districts, non-governmental organizations in improvement projects and educational initiatives that protect our oceans by reducing urban run-off pollution. We conduct business, oversee projects, and audit results under the guidance of our all-volunteer Board of Directors, whose annual contributions make it possible to operate with minimal overhead expenses and direct virtually all donations directly to meaningful projects and programs.
Select Board members screen and pre-qualify possible projects, which are then approved by the entire Board of Directors. Miocean then negotiates with the partnering entity (City or NGO) and determines the criteria for funding. We also seek "leverage" of our contributions through matching grants, city funding and charitable donations. Miocean's Board of Directors underwrites the foundation's operating expenses, which allows all contributions to be directly applied to support local urban runoff improvement projects and watershed education programs. Finally, the projects are monitored for proper implementation and performance, which helps assure measurable outcomes.
- Best Management Practices (BMPs)
- Best Management Practices (BMPs) are effective, practical, structural or nonstructural methods that prevent or reduce the movement of sediment, nutrients, pesticides and other pollutants from the land to surface or ground water, or which otherwise protect water quality. Best Management Practices are at the essence of Miocean's mission and can include end of pipe solutions, natural treatment systems and education outreach.
- Constructed Wetlands
- A constructed wetland or natural treatment system (NTS) is an artificial marsh or swamp, created for anthropogenic discharge such as wastewater, stormwater runoff or sewage treatment, and as habitat for wildlife, or for land reclamation after mining or other disturbance. Natural wetlands act as biofilters, removing sediments and pollutants such as heavy metals from the water, and constructed wetlands can be designed to emulate these features. Miocean is currently collaborating with the City of Huntington Beach on a large-scale project that will utilize constructed wetlands to treat more than one million gallons a day of urban runoff before it reaches the ocean.
- End-of-Pipe Treatment Solutions
- The term "end-of-pipe solution" describes a pollution-control approach that cleans up polluted flows of water or air at the point where that discharge enters the environment such as a creek or ocean. This pollution-control approach usually involves a high technical device or specialized treatment plant type system that removes the pollutants. An alternative, and often less costly route is to prevent those same pollutants from ever entering the stream, by educating consumers and business on how they can reduce their contribution to urban run-off. Our North Creek and Salt Creek Diversion projects are good examples of successful end-of-pipe implementations.
- Green Infrastructure
- An adaptable term used to describe an array of products, technologies, and practices that use natural systems - or engineered systems that mimic natural processes - to enhance overall environmental quality and provide utility services. As a general principal, Green Infrastructure techniques use soils and vegetation to infiltrate, evapotranspirate, and/or recycle stormwater runoff. Miocean's current co-sponsored project with Scripps is a perfect illustration of using green infrastructure to treat urban runoff.
- Hydrodynamic Separators
- Hydrodynamic separators are flow-though structures with a settling or separation unit to remove sediments, trash, debris, landscape litter, oil/grease and other pollutants from storm water and urban runoff. No energy is required to power the system and they perform under normal gravity flow conditions. Separators are typically underground and are part of the storm drain system. Separators are a common BMP selection to satisfy new development water quality requirements. An example of a well utilized hydrodynamic separator is the one used in the North Creek project to capture up to 12,000 lbs each year of trash, litter and debris from reaching the ocean in Dana Point.
- Impaired Water Body
- An impaired water body is one that is polluted. A state's Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) "Impaired Waters List" documents waters that fail or are at risk of failing the state's water quality standards, even after the installation of pollutant controls. Miocean considers Impaired Water Body status when evaluating possible ocean protection projects such as future support of projects in Newport Beach and Huntington Beach to improve impaired water bodies.
- Impervious Surface
- An area covered with material that is either solid or compacted to the point where water can not infiltrate underlying soils (e.g. parking lots, roads, houses, patios, tennis courts, etc.). Stormwater runoff velocity and volume can increase in areas covered by impervious surfaces.
- Low Impact Development (LID)
- A term used in the United States to describe a land planning and engineering design approach to managing stormwater runoff. LID emphasizes conservation and use of on-site natural features to protect water quality. Small-scale hydrologic controls replicate the pre-development watershed management by filtering, storing, evaporating, and detaining runoff close to its source. Miocean supports the use of LID features in new development, redevelopment and in restoration projects to improve runoff water quality conditions.
- Non-Point Source Pollution
- Pollution generated by diffuse land use activities rather than from an identifiable or discrete facility. It is carried to waterways through natural processes, such as rainfall, storm runoff, or groundwater seepage rather than by deliberate discharge. Non-point source pollution is not generally corrected by "end-of-pipe" treatment, but rather, by changes in land management practices. Miocean will encourage reduction of Non-Point Source Pollution through its pending professional certification program with Chapman University. Conversely, Point Source Pollution is a discharge of water pollution to a stream or other body of water coming from an identifiable single point such as a pipe from a waste treatment plant.
- Ozone Treatment Systems
- A highly specialized packaged treatment system that takes urban runoff from a local stream or flood control channel and diverts it through the treatment system. This process typically includes a screening process to remove all large particles from the flow, then running the water through a series of sand filters to remove much finer particles. Eventually, the water flows though the ozone chamber, the dissolved ozone gas reacts with any live organism in the water such as bacteria. Ozone is a very strong oxidizer and is particularly effective for destroying living matter within water and waste water treatment, including urban runoff. Ozonation has an effective kill rate of over 99% of most living microorganisms such as bacteria & viruses. Miocean's Salt Creek project in the City of Dana Point is an example of a successful implementation of an Ozone Treatment System.
- A waste material that contaminates air, soil, or water, such as sediment, nutrients, bacteria and toxic chemicals, all of which are considered the major groups of pollutants contributing to the deterioration of our local ecosystems and oceans.
- Sewer Diversions
- The term "sewer diversion" occurs when the local sewering agency agrees to accept a certain portion of dry weather flows (urban runoff) from nearby storm drain systems and send it through the local treatment plant to remove pollutants including sediment, bacteria and metals. Miocean's North Creek project in Dana Point is an example of a Sewer Diversion project that is preventing urban runoff from reaching the ocean.
- Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
- A watershed cleanup program, required by the Clean Water Act under Section 303(d), designed to deal with problem pollutants from all sources, including Point and Non-point sources. This program is particularly important for Non-point source controls because of the absence of other federally mandated control mechanisms. Under this provision, states are required to identify waters that are polluted even after all mandated controls have been applied, and must develop watershed cleanup plans called "TMDLs." In order for the U.S. EPA to approve a proposed TMDL, the state must demonstrate a "reasonable assurance" that the controls on Non-point and Point sources alike-can be achieved. Similar to Impaired Water Bodies, Miocean pays particular attention to coastal water bodies that require TMDL's and projects to improve water quality.
- Ultraviolet Treatment Systems
- A highly specialized packaged treatment system that takes urban runoff from a local stream or flood control channel and diverts the water through the treatment system. The process typically includes a screening process to remove particles from the flow. Eventually, the water flows past UV lamp(s) in a UV disinfection system, where any microorganisms are exposed to ultraviolet light energy at a 253.7nm wave length, which alters the DNA material in cells so that bacteria, viruses, molds, algae and other microorganisms can no longer reproduce. The microorganisms are considered dead, and the risk of disease from them is eliminated. The process of UV Disinfection is accomplished without adding any harmful chemicals to the water and does not cause any impacts to the local receiving water body. UV Disinfection has an effective kill rate of 99.9% of most living microorganisms such as bacteria & viruses. Miocean's Poche Beach project in South Orange County is an example of an Ultraviolet Treatment System.
- Urban Runoff
- Uncontrolled or treated runoff from the urban environment and from construction activities can run off landscape and hardscapes into surface waters. This runoff can include such pollutants as sediments, pathogens, fertilizers/nutrients, hydrocarbons, and metals. Pavement and compacted areas, roofs, and reduced tree canopy and open space increase runoff volumes, which can rapidly flow into our waters. The increase in runoff volume and velocity often causes stream bank erosion, channel incision and sediment deposition in stream channels. In addition, runoff from developed areas can increase stream temperatures, which along with the increase in flow rate and pollutant loads, negatively affect water quality and aquatic life.
- Everyone in the United States lives in a watershed. A watershed is a geographic area in which water flows on its way to a larger water body, such as a stream, river, estuary, lake, or ocean. The nation's coastal and ocean resources are affected not only by activities in coastal areas but also by those in upland watersheds. A coastal watershed, as defined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is that portion of a watershed that includes the upstream extent of tidal influence. In the Great Lakes region, a coastal watershed includes the entire geographic area that drains into one of the lakes.
- Watershed Management
- The process of creating and implementing plans, programs, and projects to sustain and enhance watershed functions that affect the plant, animal, and human communities within a watershed boundary. Features of a watershed that agencies seek to manage include water supply, water quality, drainage, stormwater runoff, water rights, and the overall planning and utilization of watersheds. Landowners, land use agencies, stormwater management experts, environmental specialists, water use purveyors and communities all play an integral part in the management of a watershed. Miocean helps protect and preserve Orange County's shorelines by sponsoring projects that apply Watershed Management principles such as the Ocean Institute and Back Bay Science Center education programs.
What is Urban Runoff?
Uncontrolled or treated runoff from the urban environment and from construction activities can run off landscape and hardscapes into surface waters. This runoff can include such pollutants as sediments, pathogens, fertilizers/nutrients, hydrocarbons, and metals. Pavement and compacted areas, roofs, and reduced tree canopy and open space increase runoff volumes, which can rapidly flow into our waters. The increase in runoff volume and velocity often causes stream bank erosion, channel incision and sediment deposition in stream channels. In addition, runoff from developed areas can increase stream temperatures, which along with the increase in flow rate and pollutant loads, negatively affect water quality and aquatic life.