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There
are three agencies within Orange County that provide
monitoring information to Heal the Bay's Beach Report
Card. The South Orange County Wastewater Authority (the
entity that resulted when the Aliso Water Management
Agency (AWMA) and the South East Regional Reclamation
Authority (SERRA) were combined) monitors 33 locations
on a weekly basis. The Orange County Environmental Health
Division monitors 95 locations on a weekly basis and
more than 55 of these locations are covered in the Beach
Report Card. The County Sanitation Districts of Orange
County monitor 17 locations twice a week. Samples are
collected throughout the year, usually near flowing
storm drains, creeks or rivers.
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| Seal
Beach at 14th Street |
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Overall,
dry weather water quality at most beaches in Orange
County was very good. Of the 102 water quality monitoring
locations covered by the Beach Report Card, 79 (76%)
received very good-to-excellent water quality marks
(see Table 25 and Table 26). Orange County's stretches
of beaches with great water quality were Seal Beach
at 8th Street to Huntington City Beach at Jack's Snack
Bar; Newport Beach at Orange Street to Balboa Beach
at the Wedge; Corona Beach to Dana Point at Dana Strand
Beach; and San Clemente, north of the pier, to San Clemente
Beach at Las Palmeras. As for water quality in the bays
and harbors, the results were similar to last year with
most locations within Huntington Harbor and Newport
Bay receiving very-good-to-excellent grades during dry
weather.
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| San
Juan Creek, Doheney Beach |
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| Baby
Beach, Dana Point Harbor |
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There
were 23 locations that received fair-to-poor water quality
marks in Orange County. For the fourth year in a row,
20 of the 23 locations were in three beach areas. The
stretch of beach with the worst water quality in California
was a long stretch of beach (over two-miles) from Doheny
Beach, south of San Juan Creek to Poche Beach. Of the
12 stations monitored in this stretch of beach during
dry weather, 10 received a grade of D or F. Just as
problematic was the pocket beach in Dana Point Harbor
called Baby Beach. For the fourth year in a row a majority
of the monitoring stations (three of the four) received
failing grades. The other problem beach spot was Newport
Bay beaches in the Lido Channel area. Monitoring stations
at 43rd Street (F), 38th Street (C), 19th Street (D),
and 10th Street (C) showed fair-to-poor water quality.
Huntington State Beach at Magnolia Street (C) was the
only monitoring location in the stretch of Huntington
beaches not to receive an A or B grade during dry weather
year round.
Similar
to Los Angeles and Ventura counties, wet weather water
quality in Orange County plummeted. An astounding 85
of Orange County's monitoring locations, or 84%, received
an F grade during wet weather. This year's 85 F's showed
an 81% increase compared to last year.
Table
27 shows a brief comparison between the three-year average
and this year's dry- and wet-weather water quality grades
for Orange County beaches. This was an average year
for water quality at Orange County beaches during dry
weather. However, despite an average rainfall year Orange
County's beach water quality during wet weather was
the worst on record.
Clean
Beach Initiative Summary
Orange County has eight CBI projects, at total funding
of approximately $4 million, to reduce bacterial pollution
at local beaches. The City of Dana Point will divert
the Alipaz Street and Del Obispo Street storm drains
away from San Juan Creek to the sewage system. The City
of Newport Beach will implement several dry-weather
diversions, a tidal circulation study, and modify a
number of storm drain inlets to Newport Bay beaches.
The County of Orange will construct a package treatment
facility at Poche Creek, and implement dry weather low
flow diversions at Huntington Beach and Dana Point Harbor
(Baby Beach). In addition to the diversion at Baby Beach,
the County plans to conduct a source identification
study and tidal circulation feasibility study (to determine
if increased tidal flows will reduce bacterial concentrations).
Sewage
Spill Summary
Orange County beaches had a significant reduction in
the number of sewage spills and volume spilled this
past year. There were approximately 33 sewage spills
that led to beach closures in Orange County, which is
18 less than last year. The spills discharged over 28,855
gallons of sewage runoff, a 62% volume reduction compared
to last year. There were no major sewage spills (> 10,000
gallons). While the majority of Orange County beaches
benefited from the reduction in sewage spills and sewage
volume, Newport Bay Harbor and beaches unfortunately
bore the brunt of it with 11 of the 33 spills.
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