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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 County of Orange Environmental Health Division, and the Orange County Sanitation District. Samples were collected throughout the year along open coastal and bay beaches, as well as near flowing stormdrains, creeks or rivers.
For additional water quality information visit the County of Orange
Environmental Health Division website.
Orange County grades for both year-round dry weather and the AB411 time period were well above the state average. Ninety-four percent of monitoring locations received an A or B during the AB411 time period as well as 89% for year-round dry weather (Figures 7 and 8). Stretches of Orange County beaches with very-good-to-excellent water quality during the summer dry weather time period for the second year in a row were: Seal Beach at 8th Street to Huntington State Beach at Magnolia Street, Newport Beach at Orange Street all the way to Three Arch Bay in Laguna Beach, and Avenida Pico to Las Palmeras at San Clemente City and State Beaches.
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| Baby Beach, Dana Point Harbor. Photo: Heal the Bay |
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| Doheny Beach, Dana Point.. Photo: Heal the Bay |
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| Seal Beach at 14th Street with the Seal Beach pier in the background. Photo: Heal the Bay |
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There were 11 Orange County locations that received fair-to-poor year-round dry weather water quality grades. All of these locations were at Doheny Beach or in Dana Point Harbor except for Huntington State Beach at Brookhurst Street (C), and Poche Beach in San Clemente (F). Unfortunately, finding a Clean Beach Initiative (CBI) funded treatment solution to the chronic poor water quality at Poche Beach continues to be a major problem. The Doheny Beach stretch of poor water quality was from North Beach to 3000 feet south of the SERRA Outfall. Doheny Beach, perhaps due to the drought this year, did not earn a spot on Heal the Bay’s statewide Beach Bummer list as one of the most polluted beaches in California for the first time in many years. Two of the four Baby Beach monitoring locations in Dana Point Harbor received C grades this past year during dry weather. Monarch Beach, which scored a C grade for year-round dry weather on our last report, improved to an A grade this year largely due to the completion of a CBI funded runoff treatment facility.
Wet weather water quality was substantially better than the previous year. Fifty-nine percent of monitoring locations received A or B grades this year compared to only 44% in 2005-2006.
Figures 9 and 10 illustrate a trends assessment of this year’s grade percentages at Orange County beaches compared to the three-year average. For dry weather conditions, this year’s water quality improved slightly from the previous three year average, while wet weather grades improved dramatically. This is most likely due to the extreme lack of rainfall in Southern California this past year.
Sewage
Spill Summary
The number of Orange County beach closures due to sewage spills decreased in number this year, but the volume of spills increased exponentially due to a tremendous release of wastewater in late April 2006. Approximately 30 million gallons of partially treated sewage closed almost 5 miles of beach in Newport and Huntington Beaches for 3 days. Four other significant spills (>1000 gallons) occurred at Poche Beach in May 2006, in Newport Bay in June 2006, in Huntington Harbor in November 2006, and again at Poche Beach in December 2006. Each of these significant spills resulted in beach closures of only two to three days. In total, Orange County experienced 21 beach closing sewage spills, totaling over 30 million gallons.
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