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Heal
the Bay's 14th Annual Beach Report CardSM provides
essential water quality information to the millions
of people who swim, surf, or dive in California coastal
waters. Essential reading for ocean users, the report
card grades over 370 locations year-round (about
470 locations in dry weather from April to October)
on an A-F scale based on the risk of adverse health
effects to swimmers and surfers. The grades are based
on daily and weekly fecal bacteria pollution levels
in the surfzone. The program has evolved from an
annual review of beaches in Santa Monica Bay to weekly
updates of all monitored beaches throughout California.
All this information is available in print and at
www.healthebay.org.
The
2003-2004 Annual Beach Report Card shows that most
beaches had very good water quality, with 268 of
373 (72%) locations receiving A grades for the year
during dry weather. Also, there were 44 (12%) Bs,
27 (7%) Cs, 15 (4%) Ds and 19 (5%) Fs. For Southern
California alone, overall dry weather grades were
notably better than the 1999-2003 averages. 86% of
dry weather beach grades were good-to-excellent for
2003-2004, beating the average by 6%. With the addition
of 4 new northern counties' data this year, Heal
the Bay looks forward to integrating the entire state
into our overall trends analysis.
Numerous
California beaches vied for the "Beach Bummer" crown
this year (the monitoring location with the poorest
dry weather water quality). The 10 finalists were:
Pacific Beach at Pacific Beach Point in San Diego
County (10th), Cabrillo Beach, harborside at the
lifeguard tower in Los Angeles County (9th), Baby
Beach at Dana Point Harbor in Orange County (8th),
Channel Islands Harbor Beach Park at Kiddie Beach
in Ventura County (7th), Stillwater Cove at the Beach
and Tennis Club in Monterey County (6th), Pillar
Point Harbor at Barbara's Fish Trap in San Mateo
County (5th), Avalon Beach between the Pier and Busy
Bee Restaurant on Catalina Island (4th), Surfrider
Beach at the breach point in Los Angeles County (3rd),
Campbell Cove State Park Beach at Bodega Bay in Sonoma
County (2nd). For the third year in a row, the California "Beach
Bummer"-the most polluted beach in California-was
Doheny Beach from North Beach to 2000 feet south
of San Juan Creek in Orange County (1st). Doheny
Beach was awarded the "Beach Bummer" based on the
beach area degraded (over a half-mile stretch of
beach), the severity of its poor water quality and
the number of annual visitors to the beach.
As
in previous years, there continues to be a great
disparity in water quality between dry and wet weather
conditions. A few counties (including San Diego County)
do not maintain their water quality monitoring program
throughout the year, reducing or completely discontinuing
the program between November and March. Of the 327
locations that are monitored during wet weather,
155, or 48%, received good-to-excellent water quality
marks during wet weather, while 172 locations received
fair-to-poor water quality marks. For Southern California,
2003-2004 was one of the cleanest wet weather years
on record. Although Southern California largely had
below average rainfall in 2002- 2003, 2003-2004 was
not a major drought year. Last year's rainfall can
be characterized as low intensity, but more frequent
storms-which translated into reduced long term beach
pollution. Overall, 35% of the monitoring locations
received an F grade during wet weather, compared
to only 5% during dry weather.
Last
year Heal the Bay highlighted water quality success
stories throughout the state, and we continue this
tradition this year. The City of Los Angeles was
able to complete the Santa Monica Canyon diversion
at Will Rogers Beach, benefiting beachgoers this
past summer, and it made a substantial difference
in water quality. In 2002-2003, Santa Monica Canyon
received a grade of D from April to October; however,
this year water quality improved to a grade of B.
As for updates on last year's dry weather successes,
there are continued successes and a couple of setbacks.
The good news is that Arroyo Quemada in Santa Barbara
County continues to maintain good water quality.
For the second year in a row, Arroyo Quemada is receiving
a grade of B. This continued success is highly correlated
to the implementation of best management practices
by the Tajiguas Landfill. Unfortunately, last year's
dry weather successes at both Malibu Surfrider and
Avalon beaches could not be maintained. Both locations
faltered during dry weather, with Surfrider receiving
an F grade, and three of the five locations at Avalon
Beach on Catalina Island receiving a C, D, or F grade.
More work and funds need to be committed to identifying
and abating the causes of poor water quality at these
locations.
Heal
the Bay completed an analysis of Southern California
data (Santa Barbara County to San Diego County) to
determine if there were significant differences in
water quality based on beach type. From our analysis,
water quality at open ocean beaches was significantly
better than water quality at those beaches impacted
by storm drains or located within enclosed bays or
harbors. Approximately 96% of open ocean beaches
received an A grade during dry weather for the year
compared to 72% of beaches impacted by a storm drain,
and 43% of beaches found within an enclosed bay,
harbor or marina.
Nearly
three years ago, close to $80 million in bond money
was appropriated for the Clean Beach Initiative (CBI)
to clean up some of California's most polluted beaches.
The goal of the appropriation was to reduce the number
of days that water quality at California's beaches
is impacted by fecal bacteria, thereby better protecting
the health of beach visitors. The Clean Beach Initiative
was designed to provide municipalities with the initial
capital to tackle major water quality issues, encouraging
them to look at projects that would address the real
sources of pollution (rather than a bandaid approach).
To receive the funds, each municipality had to create
and plan a project, and commit to maintaining it
for at least 20 years. Unfortunately, while many
municipalities have made great progress on their
projects, others have not even made it through the
planning stage. Any project scheduled for funding
by the end of June 2004, that does not have a State
Water Resources Control 2 Board contract, will lose
all funding. In this time of budget shortfalls, it's
startling to see how many municipalities are running
the risk of losing these funds.
The
Beach Report Card is based on the routine monitoring
of beaches conducted by local health agencies and
dischargers. Water samples are analyzed for bacteria
that indicate pollution from numerous sources, including
fecal waste. The higher the grade a beach receives,
the lower the risk of illness to ocean users. The
report is not designed to measure the amount of trash
or toxins found at beaches. The Beach Report Card
would not be possible without the cooperation of
all of the shoreline monitoring agencies in the state.
Heal
the Bay believes the public has the right to know
the water quality at their favorite beaches, and
is proud to provide Californians this information
in an easy-to-understand format. We hope that beachgoers
will use this information to make the decisions necessary
to protect their health.
County
health officials and Heal the Bay recommend that
beach users never swim within 100 yards of any flowing
storm drain, or in any coastal water during a rainstorm,
and for three days after a storm has ended. Storm
drain runoff can be the greatest source of pollution
to local beaches, flowing untreated to the coast
and often contaminated with motor oil, animal waste,
pesticides, yard waste and trash. After a rain, indicator
bacteria counts usually far exceed state health criteria
for recreational water use.
For
more information, please log onto www.healthebay.org,
or call 1-800-HEAL BAY.
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