California beaches saw an 8 percent improvement in water quality in the April 2007 to March 2008 Beach Report Card, but Los Angeles County ranked the lowest for the third year in a row.
“Clearly we enjoyed record water qualities last year,” said Matthew King, the communications director of Heal the Bay, a non-profit environmental organization that released its 18th annual Beach Report Card May 21.
“We definitely hope this trend continues,” King said.
The largest contributor to the poor water quality rates in L.A. County are several Long Beach sites, which have water quality issues due to pollutants in the Los Angeles River.
“The big challenge that Long Beach faces is being at the end point of the Los Angeles River, where millions of residents’ detritus washes up on Long Beach’s shore,” King said.
For 2007-2008, three times as many A’s and B’s were given to Long Beach sites compared to last year, and 64 percent were given a C or D (fair to poor water quality conditions) during the dry weather season. Every Long Beach site received an F during the winter season.
“Storm water pollution was as bad this winter as it was a decade ago,” said Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay. “Local governments have a long way to go before making beaches safe year-round.”
The water quality throughout L.A. County has improved since last year. In the 2006-2007 Beach Report Card, 57 percent of L.A. County beaches received an A or B letter grade, but comprised seven out of the 10 worst beaches. The new report gave 71 percent of the L.A. beaches a letter grade of A or B. Now they make up five of the 10 worst beaches.
The report showed that during dry weather season from April to October, 93 percent of the 517 statewide beaches observed by the organization, received a letter grade of an A or B.
“The Report Card is great news for the millions of people that visit California’s beaches each year,” Gold said.
Only 29 beaches received letter grades of a D or F during the dry weather season.
According to the report, the cleanest beaches during the dry weather season in the Long Beach area are located between Belmont Pier and City Beach at 72nd Place, as well as several Alamitos Bay locations.
The dry-weather improvements, according to Heal the Bay, may be due to the record low rainfall reported in 2006-2007. Less rainfall means less storm drainage run-off into the ocean and rivers, a large contributing source to pollution in California waters.
Other factors contributing to L.A. County’s water conditions include 22 sewage spills reported to Heal the Bay in the last year. Five were major spills, each accounting for over ten thousand gallons of spilled sewage.
L.A. County also measures the bacteria content in a more precise manner compared to most counties. L.A. County uses a “point-zero” policy when measuring bacteria by measuring directly at storm and river drainages. Most counties measure water quality anywhere from a few feet to dozens away from drainage locations.
“It’s great that L.A. is doing this because it provides a more accurate picture of what’s going on but it inevitably leads to lower grades,” King said. “We would hope that other counties statewide would follow suit to better protect public health.”
Bacteria levels are measured weekly and daily. They often contain fecal matter and other toxins.
Low letter grades mean higher amounts of bacteria that may cause stomach flu, ear infections, upper respiratory infections and skin rashes, according to Heal the Bay and Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.
To help minimize future pollution King advises that residents work on their wasteful water habits — such as littering — and to cleaning up after pets. He also stated that over-fertilizing lawns and gardens and disposing hazardous materials down the drain contribute to ocean pollution.
“Residents should continue to pressure their elected leaders to fix leaky sewer pipes, inefficient septic systems and other outdated infrastructure,” King said.