The County of Ventura Environmental Health Division, monitored 56 locations on a weekly basis from April through October, 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. Due to budget constraints this past year, Ventura County significantly diminished their winter water quality monitoring program. For the first time since its inception in 1998, winter sampling in Ventura County was completed at only 22 of the 56 sites. Most samples are collected between 25 to 50 yards north or south of the mouth of a storm drain or creek. For additional water quality information visit the Ventura County Environmental Health Division website.

Hobie Beach, Channel Islands Harbor. Photo: Heal the Bay
Staircase Beach. Photo: Heal the Bay

Once again, Ventura County had the cleanest overall water quality in Southern California. For the fifth year in a row, overall AB411 water quality at Ventura County beaches was excellent (Figures 25 and 26). Of the 56 water quality monitoring locations during summer dry weather, 55 (98%) locations received good-to-excellent water quality marks. The only Ventura County beach to receive a summer dry weather grade lower than a B was the Channel Islands Harbor Beach Park at the end of the rocks (C). In most cases, Heal the Bay would not point out a grade of C as a highlight for a county; however, given the location in question is the Channel Islands Harbor it's worth noting. The Channel Islands Harbor has historically contained five monitoring stations that had some of the worst water quality in the state. This site has made Heal the Bay's 'Beach Bummer' list for the past five years. Water quality at this location was markedly different this year with three of the four locations receiving an A or B. It remains to be seen if this year's results are the start of a longer trend or merely an anomaly. Beachgoers should still using caution when choosing this site and all other enclosed beaches. For dry weather water quality year-round, San Buenaventura Beach south of San Jon drain was the only one of the 22 year-round monitoring locations to receive lower than a B grade (C).

Ventura County, like all coastal counties, was besieged by rainstorms this past winter dumping large amounts of rainfall (Table 3). As seen in Figures 25 and 26, eighteen of the 22 (82%) locations monitored failed during wet weather. The four locations that did not receive an F grade during the wet weather time period were all from the highly unurbanized portion of southern Ventura County: Point Mugu Beach (C), Sycamore Cove Beach (A), County line Beach (B), and Staircase Beach (A).

Heal the Bay provides a brief trends assessment of Ventura County beaches by comparing this year's percentage results to the five-year average. Figure 27 demonstrates how this year's combination of A and B percentages for dry weather grades of 96% is slightly higher than the five-year average of 93%. As for wet weather (Figure 28), the percentage of locations that received F grades (82%) is twice that of the five-year average (41%). It should be reiterated here that the county did reduce its monitoring program during wet weather from 51 locations to 22; therefore, this year's grade percentages may not reflect county-wide wet weather quality as accurately as past years' analyses.

Sewage Spill Summary
There were two reported sewage spills in Ventura County that led to beach closures this past year. There was a release of approximately 1000 gallons of sewage from a lift station at Triton Street and Channel Islands Boulevard in Port Hueneme. Another instance of sewage discharge from the Ojai Valley Sanitation District resulted in beach closures along San Antonio Creek at Creek Road, the Ventura River, the Ventura River mouth, Seaside Wilderness Park, Surfer's Point, Marina Park, Emma Wood State Beach, Solimar Beach, Mandos Cove, and Faria Beach. The volume of this spill was not reported to Heal the Bay.

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