The view from the deck. (Photo by Mike Dew at TourFactory)

The elevator. (Photo by Mike Dew at TourFactory)

The top-level rotunda. (Photo by Mike Dew at TourFactory)

The kitchen. (Photo by Mike Dew at TourFactory)

The Water Tower House recently hit the market for $5.5 million. (Photo by Mike Dew at TourFactory)

The Water Tower House rises above the Surfside community in Seal Beach. (Photo by Mike Dew at TourFactory)

The dining area. (Photo by Mike Dew at TourFactory)

Anyone who’s ever driven through Seal Beach on the Pacific Coast Highway has likely seen the landmark water tower, a relic of 1890s ingenuity.

The tower recently hit the market again for the third time since its transformation into a house in the 1980s, and this time, it comes with an asking price of $5.5 million.

Within its 2,828 square feet are four bedrooms, four bathrooms and a rotunda-style living area with 360-degree views. Those panoramic coastal to mountain vistas are visible from most rooms in this one-of-a-kind home, which rises above the gated Surfside community.

The living begins at the base of the tower at the foyer, which features a cascading water feature and a wall of tools unearthed in the 1940s that were once used by linesman to repair the tower. These are not the only artifacts or nod to its past used in its design.

In the ground-level guest room, a panel in the wall opens to a staircase that leads to a tiny bedroom nook.

Take the elevator 70-feet up to the elevated living areas, which open to a walk-around deck for unobstructed views, from the ocean to the mountains.

Inside, there’s a well-appointed kitchen with modern amenities and dining area.

Model trains suspended from the ceiling “remind us of why the water tower is here,” Scott Ostlund, a previous co-owner told Architectural Digest in 2019.

A spiral staircase connects the upper levels, including two ensuite bedrooms on the fourth level. One features a rotating water closet and a step-down rainfall shower.

The top-level rotunda is an open-concept space with redwood beams and large picture windows.

A stained-glass cupola crowns the structure, while a compass rose adorns the hardwood floor below.

“Add a laundry room and garage parking to the ever-growing list of perks,” the listing reads.

The tower, built by Southern Pacific Railroad around 1892, originally supplied water to steam engines that traveled along the coast. After a successful “save our water tank” campaign in the early 1980s, the community preserved the structure. It included a 75,000-gallon tank that held water until the 1970s.

In 1984, investors transformed the tower into a home.

Retired South Pasadena Fire Chief Gerald Wallace bought it in 1995 for $800,000. After listing it multiple times for up to $8 million, he sold the property to Ostlund and his investment partner in 2016 for $1.5 million.

After they restored and decorated the tower, they listed it June 2021 for $4.95 million.

The current owner is Orange County historic preservationist and physician Dr. Gregg DeNicola and his wife, Mary. Records show they purchased the water tower house in July 2022 for $4.5 million.

John Simcoe of Keller Williams Realty is the listing agent.

Kirby joins former NFL player Chris Kluwe and Huntington Beach Councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark, who have already declared their candidacies for the open seat in 2026.

Kirby grew up in Riverside County and spent 12 years as a U.S. Coast Guard petty officer. After leaving the Coast Guard in 2023, he founded Krieger Gaming, a veteran and first responders nonprofit that aims to connect people experiencing mental health problems or facing isolation to come together through video games.

“One of my deep passions is mental health and actually getting people the help they need,” Kirby, a Huntington Beach resident, said.

Kirby recently earned a bachelor’s degree in science and environmental science from the American Military University. But in mid-June — after watching the military intervention during the protests in L.A. and growing unhappy with what he called the Trump administration’s “misuse of power” — Kirby said he decided to run for office.

“Prior to that, I had no interest in being a politician,” Kirby said. “But I feel like this is going to be the best way for me to actually push forward ideas that I believe are going to benefit all Californians, not just picking sides or playing party politics.”

Kirby, who is running as a Democrat, said he has always been unaffiliated with a political party, but running as an independent would pit him against both parties. He said his voting behavior and platform mostly align with the Democratic Party.

His priority focus is protecting individual and constitutional rights, especially the freedom of speech and the importance of giving everyday citizens a voice, he said. Kirby also wants to improve the problem of homelessness in the 72nd Assembly District.

“We have all of these things that we’re not actually solving, we’re just moving them around from place to place,” Kirby said.

In addition to focusing on mental health and protecting the coastlines and water systems, Kirby said he wants to invite the people affected by state legislation into the lawmaking process itself.

“I want to start a program that I want to push forward to the state of California, where we peer review all of our documents,” Kirby said. “It should be peer reviewed by people that it affects.”

The 72nd Assembly District spans from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach and juts inland to include  Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest and Laguna Woods. Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, is running for a spot on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Like Kirby, Kluwe — a former player for the Minnesota Vikings — is also a first-time candidate. He announced his bid for election after his recent arrest during a Huntington Beach City Council meeting regarding the installation of a plaque with a MAGA acrostic outside the city library.

Van Der Mark was the first to announce her campaign for the open Assembly seat. She sits on the Huntington Beach City Council and previously served one year as the city’s mayor.

The lifeguard, identified as Isaiah Osorio, has been with the Marine Safety Department since 2023, and was planning on attending UCLA in the fall,  the city of Seal Beah said in a news release.  The 20-year-old is a graduate of Los Alamitos High School.

“Lifeguards responded immediately, and he was transported by ambulance to a local hospital,” the release said.  “The city of Seal Beach and Marine Safety Department commend the quick actions of the lifeguards and we extend our full support to Isaiah and his family during his recovery.”

It wasn’t immediately known how the injury occurred.

A GoFundMe launched to help the family with medical and other costs called the accident a “life-altering spinal cord injury that changed his world in an instant.”

Osorio is a “vibrant scholar-athlete, son, brother, and friend,” the GoFundMe reads. “Outside the pool, Isaiah loves staying active — hiking local trails, playing pickleball with friends, and taking early morning walks that fuel his competitive spirit and joy for life.”

As he faces overwhelming medical and rehabilitation costs, “your support will give him the chance to heal, adapt, and continue chasing his dreams,” it says.

At Los Alamitos High School, Osorio earned varsity letters in water polo and swimming, alongside four Academic All-American honors, before continuing his athletic and academic journey at Cypress College and earning an acceptance to UCLA.

During his time at Cypress College, he was a scholar-athlete on the men’s water polo team while studying business.

More than $60,000 was raised as of Sunday afternoon.

The county agency recently released its Harbor and Bay Water Quality Report, published every two years, which said beach closures caused by sewage spills remained low for the 13th consecutive year. The report also looked at how beaches fared for bacteria and other coastal-related public health concerns, including tar on the sand and oil sheens in the ocean.

The average for the 38 years the agency has been tracking spills – 1987 through 2024 – is 178 spills per year. The three closures reported in 2024 resulted in a total of 11 days where people were warned away from the water, fewer than the average 16 beach closures resulting in 57 closure days seen since 1999.

There were several sewage spills the previous year, 2023 — the worst happened in late November in Laguna Beach, with 152,705 gallons of sewage that flowed into open coastal areas near Laguna Avenue, the result of a city line break during repairs.

In 2024, 30,000 gallons of sewage flowed to the beach at the San Gabriel River Jetty to the Anaheim Bay breakwater from a Los Angeles County Sanitation spill.

Two spills happened in Dana Point, the first in the harbor near Baby Beach when a line blockage spilled 20 gallons of sewage. The other happened near Salt Creek, caused by a broken pipe at the Moulton Niguel Water District that released nearly 19,000 gallons of sewage.

The report said none of the closures originated from private properties.

Blockages in pipelines have been responsible for an average of 61% of all beach closures since 1999, with the major causes being the infiltration of roots and the buildup of grease.

An estimated 7,500 ocean, harbor and bay water samples were collected last year, with 22,500 analyses performed to determine the levels of three indicator bacteria used for compliance purposes – total coliform, fecal coliform and enterococcus.

The report indicated posted warnings due to violations of bacteriological water quality standards continue to trend down.

Last season, Bolsa Chica Beach, Crystal Cove State Beach and Capistrano County Beach did not produce results exceeding any bacteriological standards. “Excellent” water quality was recorded at Seal Beach/Surfside/Sunset Beach, Huntington Beach city and state beaches, Newport Beach, Dana Point and San Clemente

In 2024, nine rain advisories were issued, resulting in a total of 64 days when people were warned to stay out of the water for health reasons. Rain advisories are issued when bacterial levels are elevated and can cause illness to swimmers, surfers and divers.

Beaches that struggled the most with needing warning posted were Doheny State Beach and Poche County Beach.

Garry Brown, founder and president of Orange County Coastkeeper, called the report’s findings “excellent news” for the county.

Brown recalled a 1998 report that said Orange County’s 42 miles of coast had 1,000 postings or closings of the beach – a figure so shocking it prompted him to start the nonprofit organization.

Coastkeeper works with sanitation and water districts, as well as cities, to help figure out solutions and Brown said many have made major improvements through the decades.

“To their credit, they realized that sewage spills and contaminated beaches were no longer acceptable to the public,” he said, noting Orange County Sanitation has made a big effort in updating its infrastructure. “They are owed credit for doing a better job.”

But, he noted, “we still have a lot of work to do.” Laguna Beach, he said, has an aging system that needs to be addressed.

He also said more needs to be done in general to prevent nutrients and phosphates from entering coastal waters, “as they are the cause of algal blooms that are currently harming sea lions, dolphins, and other sea animals along our coast.”

“Our work continues,” he added, “to prevent contaminants from entering the waste stream and from being discharged into the ocean.”

Some of what mucks up the beaches can come from nature. The report indicated there was an unusual amount of tar balls in spring 2023 observed on beaches throughout Orange County.

“Tar balls are little, dark-colored pieces of oil that can sometimes stick to your feet when you go to the beach,” the report’s authors noted. “They can be from natural occurring seeps, places where oil slowly escapes from the earth surface above petroleum reservoirs or are remnants of oil spills.”

There was also an iron-oxidizing bacteria in February 2024 that created a bright orange runoff in southern Orange County.

“Although the iron-oxidizing bacteria are not a direct health threat risk to humans, they create an unsightly rusty orange substance on the beach,” the report said.

There was also a 2-mile oil sheen spotted in March 2024 off Huntington Beach, with the health care agency issuing precautions to beachgoers.

“It is critical to accurately measure and assess the overall health of our coastal waters through a full range of indicators and provide this information to the public in a biennial report,” health officials said in their report, noting it covers 42 miles of coastline and 70 miles of harbor and bay frontage.

The biennial report does not set goals, make recommendations or offer advice, but provides data for use by government officials, public agencies, environmental groups, concerned citizens and all other interested parties.

Van Der Mark, who took a turn as the city’s mayor last year, is vying for the coastal 72nd Assembly District seat, an open spot in 2026 because Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, is running for a spot on Orange County’s Board of Supervisors.

“Huntington Beach has been amazing for my family, and I just wanted to move forward and preserve those values for the state, bring some common sense back into California,” said Van Der Mark.

She said she is focused in her campaign on public safety, homelessness, parental rights and taxes.

Van Der Mark enjoys a fellow conservative majority on the Huntington Beach City Council dais — but in Sacramento, Democrats lead the legislature and executive branch.

“I am open to working with other legislators to actually get things going,” said Van Der Mark when asked about navigating that change, should she be elected. “I don’t think we should just stick to one side or another of the aisle. If it makes sense, we should move forward together.”

On the City Council, Van Der Mark has been involved in myriad polarizing decisions, including changes to the city’s libraries, legal challenges to the state’s housing mandates and a voter ID requirement for city elections, which voters approved in 2024.

Although she’s lived in Huntington Beach for 24 years, Van Der Mark grew up in Maywood, a small city south of Los Angeles. She is the daughter of immigrant parents. Between her and her husband, she’s a mom to seven.

Van Der Mark said she decided to jump into the race because she believes the 72nd Assembly District needs a “strong conservative” to represent it — and with Dixon leaving the seat, it’s losing that type of representation, she said.

“I wanted to honor her service by stepping up and continuing her legacy,” said Van Der Mark, whose term on the City Council is up in 2026.

The 72nd Assembly District spans the coast in Orange County, from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach, jutting inland to include Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest and Laguna Woods.

As of February, the latest report from the secretary of state, registered Republicans make up 39.8% of voters in the district, Democrats account for 32.14% of registered voters, and 21.32% are no party preference.

Van Der Mark is already backed by former GOP Assembly leader Scott Baugh, according to her campaign.

A massive fire earlier this year along part of the Los Angeles-area coastline sent ash, chemicals and debris onto the sand and into the ocean, a playground for millions of people who visit its beaches each year. And a toxic algae bloom has ravaged wildlife from Santa Barbara County to San Diego for months, killing and sickening countless sea birds and marine mammals, with reports of sea lions attacking swimmers and surfers.

But as Southern California residents decide where to go to beat the heat, there is one silver lining ocean advocates are talking about – an annual report card released by Heal the Bay on Thursday, May 22, showing lower-than-normal bacteria levels at many Los Angeles and Orange County beaches the past year.

Heal the Bay for the past 34 years has ranked California beaches based on bacteria levels, often flushed into the ocean with stormwater, that can sicken beachgoers. And while the latest report doesn’t reflect fire-related chemicals, the black ash and debris on the beach or the sick animals, it’s a chance to spotlight the ocean’s overall health heading into the holiday weekend.

Read also: Heal the Bay report: OC earns 34 ‘Honor Roll’ spots; Santa Monica Pier area is most polluted

“The Beach Report Card is such an important tool for raising awareness about regional water quality,” Tracy Quinn, who serves as president and CEO of Heal the Bay, “and it’s also a critical resource for empowering the public to make informed decisions about where it’s safe to swim and surf.”

The group’s report is a “limited release” this year, with more data expected later this summer because researchers were also busy with the impacts of the coastal Palasades Fire and the toxic algae blooms sickening wildlife.

“There’s so many different things impacting our ocean right now,” said Annelisa Moe, associate director of science and policy for Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay. “We can’t take them separately, because they’re all impacting the ocean at large.”

The good news? Less bacteria

Fewer rainy days in the winter and spring resulted in stellar grades in this year’s report card for many area beaches, highlighting the correlation between runoff and high bacteria levels in the ocean.

Though a “limited release” report at this time, it is a chance, Heal the Bay leaders said, to celebrate the “honor roll” beaches and to highlight where there are concerns, so solutions can quickly be explored.

Because “we feel that a day at the beach should never make anybody sick,” Moe said, “especially when it’s preventable.”

Due to that lack of rain, and subsequent stormwater runoff that flows from far inland, washing pollutants to the shore, 62 California beaches made Heal the Bay’s honor roll list this year.

In Southern California, 34 Orange County beaches made the list and seven throughout Los Angeles earned similar A+ marks.

“This continues to tell that story of stormwater being a significant source of pollution and needing to improve the infrastructure, so that we can continue to manage stormwater and use it as a potential resource and remove it as this significant pollutant,” Moe said.

In past years, there have typically been 30 to 50 beaches along the entire West Coast that earn spots on the honor roll list.

In 2024, there were 12 reported, and the year before, only two, coinciding with the wettest years recently.

But this most recent season had 9% less rainfall than the 10-year average and the first significant rain did not happen until late January. Less rain means less stormwater to flush bacteria and pollutants into the ocean.

“This indicates that we’ve gotten very good at managing these small rain events, which is a great first step,” said Naomi Meurice, water quality data specialist with Heal the Bay. “But there’s a lot more than we can do to be prepared to manage the larger storms when they do come.”

More efforts are being made to capture stormwater to reuse, meaning less dirty water is rushing out to the ocean.

“Stormwater itself is not a pollutant,” Moe said. “It’s this wonderful resource that is given to us, but as it flows through residential areas, industrial areas and commercial areas, it picks up pollutants and brings those to the ocean, and that includes bacterial pollution.

“So if we’re able to capture more of that water directly where it falls,” she said, “then it doesn’t become the pollutant that we know it as.”

All clear after the fires?

The Palasades and Eaton fires at the start of the year sent ash from the sky into the ocean, and rains flushed fire retardants and debris straight into the Pacific Ocean, worrying beachgoers from Malibu to Santa Monica and beyond.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health lifted its advisory about staying out of the water from Las Flores State Beach to Santa Monica State Beach last month, reporting that ocean testing for chemicals related to the wildfires weren’t showing levels “dangerous to human health.”

Read also: Drone images display stunning devastation from Palisades fire

The testing was conducted monthly both in the ocean and on the sand, looking for metals, nutrients, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

“This was definitely a big learning lesson for everybody,” Moe said. “Luckily, we did get a good amount of sampling done directly after the fire.”

There’s worry that the funding has run out for the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board to maintain the testing, she said. “So we’re looking for some funding to be able to continue that monthly testing, because in our minds, we need to do that for at least another year to really fully understand what the impacts are.”

Tests show chemicals are within “residential thresholds,” but Heal the Bay advocates are concerned there are some chemicals that need a closer look. There are no existing guidelines to determine human health risks from swimming or surfing in the ocean after an urban fire, Moe noted.

Acquiring missing data for materials such as inorganic arsenic, which is dangerous for humans in lower concentrations, is key to ensuring safety, Heal the Bay officials argue.

The group is also urging more testing on a substance called Hexavalent Chromium, also known as Chromium 6, which is usually produced by an industrial process such as hardening alloy steel and is known to cause cancer and impact the respiratory system, kidneys, liver, skin, and eyes.

More testing by the L.A. water quality board is underway, with results expected late May, Moe said.

And, Heal the Bay plans to conduct more of its own water quality testing and give recommendations for new public health risk thresholds for water contamination from climate disasters. It is also working with the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project Task Force to develop new guidelines for fire-related water quality monitoring efforts.

The worry goes beyond the water, with bits of glass, nails and other fire debris still stuck in the sand. Both the county and Heal the Bay are warning beachgoers to be cautious.

“Please stay away from the fire debris, don’t step in it,” said Nicole Mooradian, spokesperson for the County of Los Angeles Department of Beaches and Harbors. “Our crews are working really hard to get it cleaned every day.”

There was also a warning sent out by county health officials about a black substance accumulating on the beaches.

The black “sludge” does not appear to be hazardous to human health, Mooradian said. There is a concern, however, that it could be hiding fire debris still washing ashore.

Attempting to scrape the residual from rocks and sand could destroy marine habitats, erode the shoreline, and cause long-term environmental damage, county officials said.  “Instead, natural tides and weather will gradually break down and wash away the sediment, allowing the ecosystem to recover naturally.”

Don’t go barefoot on the sand — wear flip flops or shoes, especially at Will Rogers State Beach and beaches in Topanga and Santa Monica, Mooradian said, adding the further you get away from the burn zone, the less fire debris.

“We remain cautiously optimistic that the beach is a place people can come and enjoy, despite the wildfires,” she said.

Are sick animals dangerous?

Improved testing results the past week and a half are giving hope that toxins in nearby ocean waters that have been sickening sea life since early this year will start to have less impact.

Toxic algae blooms, appearing earlier than usual, have sickened and killed thousands of birds, dolphins, sea lions and even whales. Fish eat the algae and the larger sea creatures get sick from eating the fish, often leading to seizures and even death. The animals come ashore as they get sick and sea lions are showing unusual aggressive behavior due to the toxins.

That aggression can be directed towards humans. Several surfers and swimmers have been bitten or harassed by sea lions up and down the coast.

“Our recommendation really is, if you go to the beach, be aware of your surroundings,” Moe said. “Don’t approach any animals that might put you in danger, but it would also cause excess stress to the animal that’s already dealing with an illness or potentially life-threatening situation.”

The blooms are naturally occurring, though they have been happening more frequently in recent years, with ocean temperature increases and more nutrient runoffs appearing to contribute to the flare-ups.

This year’s bloom is geographically larger, longer and more deadly than experts say they remember, and the ash from the fires likely helped fuel the algae in at least some areas, they have said.

Typically, as summer approaches, the toxic outbreaks slow down. Marine mammal rescue groups in Los Angeles and Orange County that have been overwhelmed by the sheer number of sickened animals could sure use the break.

“But we’re not quite out of the woods just yet,” Moe said. “All of this kind of points back to climate change. So many things are affecting the health of the ocean.”