San Diego Coastkeeper’s 18th annual Seaside Soiree, held Oct. 28, raised almost $80,000 for swimmable, fishable and drinkable water in San Diego County, including $8,200 toward a campaign it launched at the event to raise $20,000 by the year’s end to celebrate its 20 years of water protection in the county.
Headlined by Waterkeeper Alliance president and founder Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the event provided an up-close introduction to the organization’s plan for the next three years, which includes:
• tripling its volunteer water quality monitoring force;
• bringing water education to 10,000 students;
• ensuring the region lowers household water use by 25 percent; and
• reducing water pollution and holding polluters accountable to the law.
“These funds will support our aggressive plan to combat the chronic pollution threatening our quality of life in San Diego,” says interim Executive Director Travis Pritchard. “The success of this event and the broad support we continue to receive from the community is evidence that San Diegans won’t stop until we have clean water for everyone.”
Other programs that will benefit from the funds include a volunteer-scientist-powered water quality monitoring program, a law and policy clinic, twice-monthly beach clean-ups and countywide environmental science education aligned with Common Core standards.
These goals, anticipated through 2018, will add to the list of accomplishments that San Diego Coastkeeper has achieved in its first 20 years. Its advocacy has resulted in a 90 percent reduction in sewage spills, a 77 percent reduction in beach advisories, a $12 million investment in sewage infrastructure and the establishment of marine protected areas in San Diego’s coastal waters. It negotiated a $100 million clean-up to heal San Diego Bay from a century of pollution and has partnered with San Diego Unified School District and San Diego Union School District to bring water-centric science to students.
The soiree was designed to highlight San Diego Coastkeeper’s principles of conservation and sustainability for San Diego’s aquatic playgrounds. Table centerpieces featured drought-tolerant and native plant species and guests interacted with educational stations. The auction and drawing featured prizes such as “A Day Sailing San Diego Bay” with Olympic gold-medalist sailor and Coastkeeper board member Mark Reynolds.
San Diego Coastkeeper acknowledges soiree sponsors Coast Law Group, Sun Harbor Marina, Campland on the Bay, San Diego County Airport Authority, Waitt Foundation, Brickman Group, Stewart and Emily Halpern Charitable Fund, Renovate America, Regency Centers, The San Diego Foundation, Barbara Bry, EDCO, GMI, Responsible Solutions, Tosdal Law Firm, The Ellis Family Foundation, The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Sportfishing Association of California, Unified Port of San Diego, Jack Brown and Jan Chatten-Brown, DeLano & DeLano, Bob Nelson, San Diego SociaLights and San Diego Gas & Electric.
For more information on San Diego Coastkeeper, visit sdcoastkeeper.org.
