Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
May 24, 2007
4. Water Quality
7 beaches in L.A. County among most polluted in state, report says - Los Angeles Times
South state sand remains tainted - Sacramento Bee
RUNOFF ISSUES:
7 beaches in L.A. County among most polluted in state, report says
Los Angeles Times – 5/24/07
By Valerie Reitman, staff writer
Although record low rainfall made most of California's coastal waters safer to bathe in over the past year by reducing contaminated storm and creek runoff into the ocean, it wasn't enough to improve potentially risky bacteria levels at some of Los Angeles County's best known beaches, according to an annual environmental report released Wednesday.
For the second straight year, Los Angeles County had the worst coastal water quality in the state for the 12 months ending March 31, with seven beaches ranking among the state's 10 most polluted, according to the environmental group Heal the Bay.
The nonprofit group assesses daily and weekly fecal bacteria pollution from nearly 500 California beach sites from Humboldt County to the Mexican border, giving each a grade of A through F.
Beaches rated F included Surfrider and Marie Canyon storm drain in Malibu, Santa Monica Municipal Pier area, Castle Rock in the Pacific Palisades area, and Avalon on Catalina Island. Higher bacteria counts raise the risk of contracting gastrointestinal ailments, ear infections, upper respiratory infections and skin rashes, and can also harm fish and wildlife.
The biggest surprise in this year's report: the dramatic deterioration in water quality along the several-mile Long Beach coastline, which ranked worst in the state, said Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay. Nearly all of the 25 beaches tested there received grades of C through F — 14 of them Ds and Fs — leading the environmental group to lump the city's beaches into a single entity.
"It's a very dramatic change, as Long Beach historically has had excellent water quality," Gold said.
Long Beach city officials said they were at a loss to explain the cause. They suspected faulty boat-sewage pumping equipment, but replacing the pumps last summer didn't resolve the pollution problem.
Nelson Kerr, Long Beach environmental health manager, said other areas may be contributing to the problem. The Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers feed into the ocean on either side of Long Beach, meaning that the coastline is the "storm-drain dumping ground" for a "long stream of 875 miles and 43 cities with 10 million people" that feed into the watershed.
In other cities, the fecal bacteria contamination can vary every few hundred yards: One beach near a pier, storm drain or creek runoff area might get a failing grade, but another one a few hundred yards away might be fine. Such runoff may contain animal and human waste, oil and trash deposited directly into the ocean.
For instance, at sixth-worst Santa Monica pier, more than 80% of the samples tested got Ds or Fs over the year, with the best samples eking out Cs. But other Santa Monica beaches get top marks — so beach-goers would be wiser to go to those, Gold said.
"When you have so many beaches to choose from, it doesn't make sense to swim … [at a polluted] beach, when you can go a mile away to Ocean Park, which almost always gets A's," Gold said.
Several beaches perennially appear on Heal the Bay's annual "Beach Bummer" list, including Santa Monica pier, Surfrider, Avalon Beach on Catalina Island and Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.
Diversion systems that channel storm water and runoff into treatment plants helped improve the water quality at Will Rogers State Beach and Monarch Beach in Dana Point, which also have made the worst-beach list in recent years.
Also absent for the first time in many years was Doheny State Beach in Dana Point. The drought dried up most of the runoff into the surf there, Gold said.
Other entries on the "Beach Bummer" 10-worst list were in San Mateo, Sonoma and Santa Barbara counties.
Overall, however, water quality along the state has been "above average," mostly because of the low rainfall. From San Luis Obispo County north to Humboldt County, more than 90% of the beaches earned A's in terms of quality.
Jonathan Bishop, chief deputy director of the state Water Resources Control Board, noted that only 8% of the beaches in the state received Fs.
"It's getting better, but there's still a ways to go," he said. "It highlights what state and regional boards have been saying for a long time — that we have to control the runoff."
Gold wasn't so sanguine. If there hadn't been a drought, there would have been little improvement in overall beach quality, Gold said. About 74% of the Southern California beaches monitored over the summer received A grades, but only 40% of those scored the top grade during wet weather, with 27% receiving Fs.
"It demonstrates that California as a whole has done a poor job of reducing storm water pollution," Gold said. "In the summer months, there are a lot of success stories, but in the winter, I can't point to one beach that is a success story." #
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-beaches24may24,1,5248834,full.story?coll=la-headlines-california
South state sand remains tainted
Sacramento Bee – 5/24/07
By Peter Hecht, staff writer
Surfers, lifeguards and environmental scientists in some parts of Southern California have long been tempted to pray for a drought. That's because with every rain, rivers, creeks and storm drains carry the filth of urban living -- motor oil, fecal bacteria and other pollutants -- onto beaches and into the sea.
"When you're swimming in the ocean three days after a rainstorm, you're definitely swimming with an elevated risk," said Mark Gold, president of the Santa Monica-based environmental group Heal the Bay.
But now, in one of the driest years on record, scientists for Heal the Bay say there remains little reason to celebrate.
Even though beaches statewide were reported as cleaner than in most years, the study said serious problems continue from urban runoff, particularly in Los Angeles County.
The organization's "Annual Beach Report Card," measuring California's coastal water quality at more than 500 beaches from San Ysidro to Eureka, reported Wednesday that Los Angeles County has seven of California's 10 most polluted beaches.
The good news for Central and Northern California residents is that 90 percent of beaches from San Luis Obispo to Humboldt County received "A" grades from Heal the Bay for having exceptional water quality during the 2006-2007 testing period. But two Northern California beaches, Campbell Cove State Park Beach in Sonoma County and Venice Beach at Frenchman's Creek in San Mateo County, ranked seventh and eighth, respectively, on the state's most polluted list.
Meanwhile, contamination found at multiple beach locations earned Long Beach the organization's not-so-coveted "Beach Bummer" award for having the worst water quality in the state.
Gold said scientists are uncertain about the source of fecal bacteria detected in more than 20 locations along Long Beach's seven-mile shore. Besides river and storm drain runoff, he said, potential culprits could include failing sewage-treatment facilities, leaking private boat pumps or increased cruise ship traffic.
"This year, for some unexplained reason, the water quality (in Long Beach) is very, very poor," Gold said. "We don't know what the sources ... are. It is something that needs to be investigated as fast as possible to protect public health."
City spokeswoman Kathy Parson said Long Beach, which furnished water testing data for the Heal the Bay study, has long been a "dumping ground" for urban pollution from numerous inland cities that is carried into the ocean by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers.
Tom Leary, the city's stormwater program officer, said he believed reduced flows from the Los Angeles River are actually carrying a denser mix of pollutants than in heavier rain years.
"In a dry year, there is more (undiluted) toxic matter coming down laden with bacteria," Leary said.
The city last summer formed a water quality task force to investigate sources of bacterial pollution. Leary said Long Beach is also spending $5.1 million in state grants to dredge and clean an inland water body, the Colorado Lagoon, that has been polluted from runoff from urban culverts and storm drains.
But Gold said some other Southern California beaches long tormented by pollution from rivers, creeks and storm drains were cleaner in the past year.
Notably, Heal the Bay reported improving conditions at Imperial Beach in San Diego County, which has been frequently contaminated when heavy rains have overwhelmed the sewage system in nearby Tijuana.
Behind Long Beach, six other Los Angeles County beach locations were ranked among the most polluted in the state.
The other Los Angeles County beaches, ranked by pollution levels, were Castle Rock Beach near Topanga, Malibu Beach near the Marie Canyon storm drain, Avalon Beach on Catalina Island, Surfrider Beach in Malibu, Santa Monica Beach at the municipal pier and Cabrillo Beach near the harbor lifeguard tower.
Gold said swimmers at those locations face higher risks of illnesses such as stomach flu, ear infections, upper respiratory infections and skin rashes.
He blamed much of the pollution on bacteria from leaky sewer lines and septic systems and domestic animal waste in densely populated areas.
On sparsely populated Catalina Island, Gold said, decaying sewage infrastructure is causing contaminants to seep onto Avalon Beach. #
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/191838.html
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