How’s the Water? Find Out Weekly

Most of Orange County’s beaches get top ratings for water quality, but a number of critical places, particularly off Seal Beach, have high levels of bacteria, according to the environmental group Heal the Bay.

In the first of its planned weekly reports on beach water conditions Friday, Heal the Bay also gave failing grades to the water--but only after measurable rainfall--at South County’s Doheny State Beach and several river mouths and storm drain sites.

Among beaches receiving high grades for low levels of pollution were those in San Clemente, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach at 38th Street.

“For the most part, Orange County did well with 90% of its beaches getting good marks in dry weather,” said Mark Gold, the group’s executive director.

The advocacy group uses county health figures for coliform and other bacteria and converts them into simple letter grades from A to F, with lower grades indicating high amounts of fecal bacteria and a high risk of contracting illness.

Typically, information supplied by the county Health Care Agency is technical and makes no sense to the average beach user, Gold said.

“We get information in raw data form, and it tells you total coliform was 800 and fecal count was 200,” he said. “But what is that going to mean to John Q. Public? Well, based on our experience, we take that information and basically translate it to what the public can understand.”

The simplified version, the first to include a pollution report card for the county’s 42-mile coast, is designed to offer a quick glimpse each Friday at beach conditions. The group has provided similar report cards for the past nine years on Los Angeles County beaches.

For years, Orange County surfers and swimmers have complained about swimming in beaches polluted by river and storm drain runoff. Those areas have high amounts of fecal coliform, which is an indicator of sewage and filth.

In the case of Seal Beach, the water is severely affected by San Gabriel River runoff, the advocacy group reported.

Seal Beach Lifeguard Lt. Ross Pounds said the low grade “doesn’t surprise me.” But he liked hearing about the grade.

“I applaud Heal the Bay’s efforts,” Pounds said, “especially for me as someone who works year-round in these waters.”

The findings echo the warnings that health officials in Orange and Los Angeles counties have issued in recent years: Avoid swimming at beaches near storm drains, channels and rivers, roughly 100 yards from the mouth. Studies have emphasized that the advice applies even during dry weather.

The grades come as county health officials fight additional testing required by state law and as the county’s largest sanitation district reveals that waste discharged into the ocean will likely increase 17% and that the water will get dirtier.

In April, health officials in Orange and San Diego counties blocked standardized testing for ocean pollution at California’s beaches. Officials said they were not convinced that more stringent standards were necessary to protect the public’s health.

A testing program was supposed to begin by April 1, but the dispute held up even agreement on what the regulations should be. Regulations have yet to be submitted for final approval, said Jack S. McGurk, environmental management chief at the state Department of Health Services.

Larry W. Honeybourne, program chief of Orange County’s Water Quality Section, could not be reached Friday.

Meanwhile, the Orange County Sanitation District, which serves 2.2 million customers, has proposed an increase in the amount of waste discharged into the ocean to keep pace with the expected population rise, said Linda Tuchman, a district spokeswoman.

The district discharges 17,000 metric tons of waste water a year and has proposed to raise that figure to 20,000 metric tons, a level already allowed under the district’s federal permit.

An environmental impact report on the proposal is done but must be approved by the district’s board before it can be publicly released, Tuchman said. The earliest release date is June 29, she said.

Gold said the weekly tests will be available year-round on his group’s Web site (www.healthebay. org/baymap). With Friday’s addition of Orange County beaches, the environmental group has more than 250 monitoring sites along the coast, from San Clemente to Santa Barbara County.

“The beach report card,” Gold said, “provides essential information to protecting the public health of more than 100 million annual visitors to Southern California beaches.”

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Sample Water Readings

Bacteria levels in water off Seal Beach and Doheny State Beach were ranked among the unhealthiest by Heal the Bay, an environmental group. In general, most county beaches received A+ grades during dry weather, but dropped near rivers and storm drains, especially after rain washed bacteria and debris into the ocean. Here is a sample of sites graded during dry and wet weather:

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Dry Wet Seal Beach at First Street: F F at Eighth Street: D F Sunset Beach at 14th Street: A+ F at Broadway: A+ A+ Huntington Beach at Bolsa Chica: A+ C Huntington Beach at Bluffs: A+ A+ Huntington Beach State Beach at Jack’s snack bar: A A Santa Ana River Jetty: A+ F Newport Beach at 38th Street: A+ A+ Corona del Mar: A+ A+ Crystal Cove State Park at Pelican Point: A+ A+ Salt Creek: A+ A+ Laguna Beach at Main Beach: A+ A+ Doheny State Beach at North Beach: C A+ Doheny State Beach south of San Juan Creek F F San Clemente at lifeguard building: A+ A+

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For a complete list, see Web site:

https://www.healthebay.org/baymap

NOTE: Grades are based on water samples, taken by city and county health officials between May 14 and June 10, that measure levels of three bacteria: total coliform, fecal coliform and enterococcus. High levels of these bacteria indicate that other bacteria, such as e. coli, are present in large enough quantities to present a health risk. The grade does not include measuring for toxins or trash.

Source: Heal the Bay