Heal the Bay, a nonprofit environmental organization, released its annual Beach Report Card this week.
Heal the Bay analysts assigned A to F letter grades to beaches for the dry-weather period from March 2009 through April 2010, based on levels of weekly bacterial pollution. The report, which analyzes monitoring data at 326 beaches in California, gave 76 beaches perfect scores, meaning they never exceeded state bacterial standards for ocean water quality. (None of the beaches I have visited earned a perfect score.)
Seventy-nine percent of Los Angeles County's 86 beaches received A’s or B’s, compared to 70% last year. But the county has continued to dominate on the list of the state's most polluted beaches, with five L.A. County locations ranking among the 10 worst and seven beaches receiving year-round F’s. Orange County as a whole had terrific water quality, with about 97% of beaches scoring A or B. (Translation: Go to the beach in Orange County.)
Here are Heal the Bay’s Top 10 Beach Bummers:
- Avalon Harbor Beach on Santa Catalina Island (Los Angeles County)
- Cowell Beach – at the wharf (Santa Cruz County)
- Cabrillo Beach harborside (San Pedro, Los Angeles County)
- Poche Beach (San Clemente, Orange County)
- Santa Monica Municipal Pier (Santa Monica, Los Angeles County)
- Colorado Lagoon (Long Beach, Los Angeles County)
- Baker Beach at Lobos Creek (San Francisco County)
- Capitola Beach -- west of the jetty (Santa Cruz County)
- Vacation Isle North Cove Beach in Mission Bay (San Diego County)
- Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway at Santa Ynez Drain (Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles County)
My favorite beach, Aliso Creek in Laguna Beach, received an A. My second-favorite beach, Seal Beach, also received an A. Both are in Orange County. (In addition to better water quality, I find the restrooms to be nicer and cleaner and both have plenty of parking.)
The Beach Report Card is a comprehensive evaluation of coastal water quality based on daily and weekly samples taken from sites along the entire coast of California. A poor grade means beachgoers face a higher risk of contracting illnesses such as stomach flu, ear infections, upper respiratory infections and skin rashes than swimmers at cleaner beaches.
This seems like a good time to point out that beginning next year, there is no secured state funding for ongoing testing of ocean water quality, placing public health at risk. (Thanks, Arnold!) If the situation does not improve, more than half of the beach monitoring in the state will stop. Heal the Bay says it will work with state and local governments to ensure that ongoing funding is secured.
You can read the full report at healthebay.org/2010BRC.
Caption: The water is blue and the sand is clean at Aliso Creek Beach in the OC.
