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The
County of Ventura, Environmental Health Division, monitors
approximately 56 locations on a weekly basis throughout
the year, from as far upcoast as Rincon Beach south
of the creek (near the Santa Barbara County line) to
a downcoast location at Staircase Beach, located at
the north end of Leo Carrillo State Beach, near the
Los Angeles county line. Most samples collected in Ventura
County are between 25 to 50 yards north or south of
the mouth of a storm drain or creek.
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| San
Buenaventura Beach, at the Sanjon drain |
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| Hobie
Beach, Channel Islands Harbor |
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For
the third year in a row, overall dry weather water
quality
at Ventura County beaches was excellent. Of the 56
water quality monitoring locations, 52 (93%) locations
received
very-good-to-excellent water quality marks (see Table
17 and Table 18). The good news this year was for
San
Buenaventura Beach, at the Sanjon storm drain. Water
quality improved from last year's C to an A this
year. By
now, beachgoers should know the beaches to look out
for in Ventura County. For the last three years,
the
same problem locations received similar grades: Channel
Island Harbor at Hobie Beach (F) and Kiddie Beach,
and Rincon Beach, 50 feet south of the
creek mouth (C).
Like
Los Angeles and Orange counties, Ventura County also
had poor water quality during wet weather. In fact,
this year, wet weather water quality in Ventura County
was the worst on record since the program began, with
75% of the locations receiving grades no higher than
a C. For example, last year, the percentage of locations
receiving letter grades of a C, D, or F was 50%. This
year's percentage of locations receiving an F grade
alone was 55%.
Please
see Table 19 for a brief comparison of the three-year
average and this year's dry- and wet-weather water quality
grades for Ventura County beaches. Dry weather water
quality this year has remained consistently excellent.
Unfortunately, this year's wet weather water quality
was below average, especially given the number of beaches
that received F grades.
Clean
Beach Initiative Summary
The County of Ventura has received a CBI grant for $1.5
million to address the persistent water quality problems
afflicting Kiddie Beach. The county has established
a task force that will oversee the implementation of
a source identification study and a tidal circulation
study, and implement necessary abatement measures to
reduce the amount of bacterial pollution at the beach.
Sewage
Spill Summary
Like last year, Ventura County had two sewage spills
that led to beach closures over the past year. Both
spills took place at Arundell Barranca in the Ventura
Harbor area, affecting Marina Park Beach, Peninsula
Beach, and Surfers' Knoll. The two spills had a combined
discharge of 17,000 gallons of sewage.
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