Cleaner waters are coming to the famed Rincon surf break. The Carpinteria Sanitary District board unanimously approved a plan to switch 156 area beach-side homes from septic tanks to sewer lines. The Rincon project vote is a landmark for local environmental groups and surfers.

Eight years after surfers first blew the whistle on Rincon Point
pollution, officials finally set the wheels in motion Tuesday night. The septic tanks were long suspected as the source of high bacteria levels at Rincon.

Many area homes are just above sea level, so septic systems
often become waterlogged and stopped working during heavy rains and high tides.

Officials expect the sewer hookups to be costly, since sewage
from the Rincon Point homes must be pumped more than a mile --
mostly uphill -- to the district's wastewater plant.

KEY News reporter Michelle Cole spoke to environmentalist Hillary Hauser who spearheaded the movement and local surfers who are thrilled with the project.