Most O.C. Beaches Earn Good Grades

With a few notable exceptions, the vast majority of Orange County beaches fared well in Heal the Bay’s 10th annual Beach Report Card, released Wednesday.

Water quality at most local stretches of shoreline received high marks, but the county’s ratings were marred by a high number of sewage spills, three of the region’s worst beaches and a handful of chronic problem spots, including the part of Huntington State Beach that was closed for two months last summer.

Contributing to the region’s high grades were the 147 straight sunny and dry days--days on which urban runoff is low. The study grades beaches on a scale of A (excellent) to F (poor) using three bacteria tests and covers water quality from April 1999 to March in Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

In Orange County, 103 sites were monitored for water quality. During dry weather, water quality at 81% of those was “very good” to “excellent.”

Among the most consistently clean spots were Corona del Mar and Crystal Cove State Park at Pelican Point, which received A’s in both dry and wet weather. But no Orange County beach was listed among those with the best water quality in the region--beaches that received an A-plus for both wet and dry days.

At the other end of the scale, three Dana Point beaches earned the dubious distinction of being finalists for the “Bummer Beach” title--the monitoring site with the worst water quality during dry weather.

The San Juan Creek ocean interface was the dirtiest spot in Orange County, ranking fifth worst in the four-county area. Trailing it were two nearby stretches of coastline: Doheny Beach south of San Juan Creek, which ranked sixth worst, and North Doheny Beach at seventh worst. All received F grades for both wet and dry weather conditions.

Other county beaches that consistently fared poorly:

* Huntington State Beach at Newland Avenue, Magnolia Street and Brookhurst Street--the site of the economically draining two-month shoreline closure last year.

* Baby Beach in Dana Point Harbor.

As in the rest of Southern California, water quality in Orange County declined significantly during rainy periods, when storm water carried massive amounts of chemicals, animal waste and other pollutants to the ocean. More than half of the county’s beaches received an F during wet weather.

Orange County led the region in the number of sewage spills, with 31 spills releasing 89,480 gallons between April 1999 and March. But Los Angeles County, which had 16 spills in the same period, had the largest volume--more than 2 million gallons. Ventura County had six spills totaling 28,450 gallons, plus one of 1.7 million gallons of partially treated sewage. Santa Barbara County had no sewage spills.

Spills in Orange County are on the increase. There were 22 in all of 1999 but 24 so far this year.

Heal the Bay made several recommendations for the coming year, including:

* Improving tidal circulation into enclosed beaches such as Baby Beach in Dana Point Harbor, which have chronic pollution, or stop pollution from reaching the beaches. And if those prove unworkable, closing those beaches.

* Urging cities and counties to build storm water diversion projects that treat bacteria-laden water before releasing it to the ocean.

Storm water diversion is becoming increasingly popular in Southern California. To avoid another Huntington Beach closure, Orange County announced last week that it would reroute the flow from 16 pump stations and 49 storm drains to a sewage treatment plant from June 7 to Labor Day. One day earlier, Los Angeles County announced it would reroute and treat runoff from five locations. Orange County and five coastal cities recently sought $1.2 million from various sources to pay for redirecting dirty water from up to 30 storm drains and pump stations from Huntington Beach to San Clemente.

* Year-round monitoring at popular beaches--state law requires monitoring between April and October.

* Making monitoring data consistent among counties. Current data are not often comparable between counties because of different sampling methods.

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‘Beach Bummer’ Awards

Southern California beaches--extending from Santa Barbara to Orange County--

with poorest dry weather water quality, according to Heal the Bay’s annual beach report:

1) Channel Islands Harbor Beach Park (Kiddie Beach), Ventura

2) Cabrillo Beach-harborside at lifeguard tower, San Pedro

3) Arroyo Quemada, Santa Barbara

4) Avalon Beach (under the Pier), Catalina Island

5) San Juan Creek interface, Dana Point

6) Doheny Beach (south of San Juan Creek), Dana Point

7) North Doheny Beach, Dana Point

8) East Beach at Mission Creek, Santa Barbara

9) Jalama Beach at Jalama Creek, north of Santa Barbara

10) Surfrider Beach at the breach, Malibu

*

Overall O.C. Beach Grades

Dry Weather

A - 70 days, 68%

B - 13 days, 13%

C - 5 days, 5%

D - 10 days, 9%

F - 5 days, 5%

*

Wet Weather

A - 16 days, 15%

B - 14 days, 14%

C - 10 days, 10%

D - 5 days, 5%

F - 58 days, 56%

Source: Heal the Bay