As usual, three of the state’s 10 worst scores were in Los Angeles County: the beach 100 yards south of the Redondo Beach Pier, Mother’s Beach in Marina del Rey, and areas around the Santa Monica Pier. It’s these types of restrictions that Griffin and others credit with helping to improve beach water quality.
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The report notes that, coincidentally, one of the two beaches that receives an A score during wet spells is the 72nd Place Beach, the only beach to receive a C for the months of April-October, the span of time that Heal the Bay monitored for its report.
The group said it’s testing found that Cowell Beach at the wharf in Santa Cruz County was the most polluted beach in the state. Overall, almost one in nine L.A. County monitored beaches received grades of C or lower during the busy summer season. “From 2011 to 2012, Heal the Bay partnered with the City of Santa Monica and the University of California at Los Angeles to conduct a Bacterial Source study”. Using sophisticated statistical models, environmental data, and past bacteria samples, the scientific teams are aiming to accurately predict when beaches should be posted with warning or open signs. According to the report, 14 of 31 water samples at Shoreline Beach Park exceeded state bacterial standards.
While above average rainfall pulled scores in the region down modestly during the past year, 97 percent of the area’s monitored beaches received top marks in summer months – when beach visitorship peaks.
Heal the Bay issues its 2016 Beach Report Card, assigning an A-to-F letter grade to 456 locations throughout the state, according to levels of harmful bacteria found in the water. Orange County had 12 beaches on the Honor Roll and Ventura County had three.
Orange County didn’t escape the Bummer List, with Dana Point’s Monarch Beach entering the list for the first time in the No. 4 slot. Less rain means less runoff, which means less pollution, Heal The Bay beach water quality scientist Leslie Griffin told KPCC. Twenty-four of 28 Bayside beaches, or 85 percent, received A or B grades, according to the report card. “Almost 40 percent of beaches get an F grade during wet weather”, according to a news report published by SCPR. They say that 22 beaches statewide received grades of C or lower during the summer – and that swimming at one of these beaches greatly increases the risk of contracting diseases like stomach flu, ear infections, upper respiratory infections and rashes. With a new Expo line extension dropping beachgoers off near this popular beach, a new wet-weather stormdrain diversion project will hopefully improve water quality.
Another factor to consider at Monarch Beach is Orange County’s water-quality sampling location was moved to point zero – where a creek or storm drain meets the water.
Weekly ocean water quality test results are available online through the county’s Department of Health Services.
But not all beaches faired so well on the grading scale.
“An average storm in Los Angeles County dumps more than 100 billion gallons of polluted stormwater into the ocean”, Heal the Bay officials said, in a written statement.
Heal The Bay is advocating for public funding to build projects to capture, cleanse and reuse runoff instead of having it flow out to the ocean. Any runoff overflow will be directed to the sanitary sewer system.
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They also advocate for better city planning, public infrastructure and “Low Impact Development” in the private sector, according to a release.
