Marina Cortez on Harbor Island in San Diego became the 100th marina to be certified under the Clean Marinas Program supported by the MRA. Carol Pagliuso of Marina Cortez said the program was comprehensive and demanding. "We worked hard to meet the requirements and the inspectors were tough. We're very happy to have passed our review and be certified. The Clean Marina burgee will be proudly displayed in our harbormaster office."
The Clean Marinas Program is a private, non-profit organization that helps marinas and yacht clubs satisfy the requirements of the national Clean Water Act on a voluntary basis. It is perhaps the nation's most successful example of a private, self-funded initiative designed to address regulatory requirements and eliminate the need for government administration and permitting.
The Clean Marinas Program has fostered awareness, education and voluntary compliance by developing, teaching and assisting in the implementation of best management practices (BMP's). "We started in 2004, when we were just a small group of marina operators in San Diego," said Clean Marinas Program President Tim Leathers. "At the time, the State Regional Water Quality Control Board was proposing that all marinas and yacht clubs fall under a strict and expensive permit called the National Pollutants Discharge Elimination Systems Permit (NPDES), which would have done little to improve water quality or develop better operating practices."
Leathers and some colleagues took the initiative. "We approached the State Regional Water Quality Control Board with a proposal to start a volunteer non-government approach based on the implementation of BMP's to educate all boaters and marina staff personnel." Despite some early skepticism from board staff, we got the green light and are now one of the fastest growing clean marina programs in the country. "We're still the only program in the country that operates strictly on a volunteer basis," added Leathers.
The Clean Marinas Program, formerly called the Clean Marinas California Program, has become a model that is respected and studied around the country. Clean Marinas' volunteers' travel far and wide consulting and teaching the educational programs and about clean marina practices appropriate to our ecologically sensitive marina environments.
The program is designed for privately owned as well as publicly operated marinas, and for coastal and fresh water operations. It is endorsed by many industry associations and environmental groups and is part of the California Department of Boating and Waterways recommended certification programs for marinas in California. The system is administered by the Marina Recreation Association, which coordinates the review process and mails out the certificate, Clean Marina window clings, flag and burgee to those who become certified.
"The Clean Marinas Committee approached us in 2005 to take the program statewide," recalled Mariann Timms of MRA. "This year they took the program beyond California by certifying five marinas in Arizona and Nevada in the spring. The program is clearly a great credit to the initiative and creativity of our marina operators, and has greatly benefited the environment and the public without spending a dime of taxpayer money."
More information about the Clean Marinas Program can be found at www.cleanmarinascalifornia.org, or visit the MRA web site at www.marina.org.
