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The County of San Francisco, in partnership with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, continued their weekly monitoring program for ocean and bay shoreline
locations. The monitoring program is funded in part
through an Environmental Protection Agency National
Beach Guidance and Performance Criteria for Recreational
Waters grant. The County monitored eleven locations on a
weekly basis year-round, from Aquatic Park Beach Hyde
Street Pier to Ocean Beach at Sloat Blvd. For additional water quality information visit the San
Francisco County Department of Environmental Health website.
During the summer dry weather time-period, all but one of San Francisco beaches scored an A or B, with only Baker Beach at Lobos Creek receiving a poor mark (F) during the pivotal AB411 time period. Dry weather water quality at San Francisco beaches this past year was fair. Eight of the eleven locations received good-to-excellent grades (Figures 11 and 12). The locations with the poorest dry weather grades were seen at Aquatic Park Beach 211 Station (D), Crissy Field Beach East 202.4 Station (C), and Baker Beach at Lobos Creek (D).
Much like every other coastal county, wet weather water quality for San Francisco beaches were poor (Figures 11 and 12), with only 3 of the 11 locations receiving good-toexcellent grades. Baker Beach East #15 and China Beach at the end of Sea Cliff Avenue were among the few California beaches to exhibit very good water quality yearround despite weather conditions.
Sewage
Spill Summary
Given San Francisco County's unique infrastructure (a combined sewer and storm drain system), overflows were not all uniform in nature, with the volume amounts and beach sites impacted differently depending on location. Therefore, Heal the Bay broke San Francisco County into four sub-regions to provide a more localized assessment of the overflows. The four sub-regions are: Aquatic Park Beach & Crissy Field Beach; Baker & China Beach; Ocean Beach & Fort Funston; and Candlestick Point. There were approximately 59 combined sewer overflows this past year that closed portions of San Francisco beaches. This was 20 more than last year. However, the increase in the number of spills was due in large part to the tremendous amount of rainfall experienced by California this past winter season. For example, 100% of the overflows took place between October and February. The Ocean Beach/Fort Funston region led all areas with 31 combined sewage overflows, followed closely by the Baker Beach/China Beach region with 25. The two areas not impacted heavily by combined sewer overflows were Candlestick Point region, with only 3 closures, and Aquatic Park Beach/Crissy Field Beach with zero.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) plans to fund a fiveyear, $150 million wastewater capital program in projects designed to reduce flood risk, upgrade local treatment plants, and reduce or eliminate wastewater odors that impact the Southeast sector of the City. The Five Year $150 million Wastewater Capital Improvement Program is expected to be the largest investment in San Francisco's wastewater and stormwater collection and treatment system since the early 1970's.
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