Santa Monica Stays Off 'Beach Bummers' List

When the quality of water next to the showed marked improvements last year, Heal the Bay couldn't call it a trend.

They're edging closer.

For the second year, the location is off the organization's "Beach Bummers" list and, like the majority of Los Angeles County coastal waters, is giving it an "A" during dry months.

The Santa Monica-based nonprofit released its annual beach report card Thursday that shows 82 percent of L.A. beaches earning A or B grades between April and October, a 7-percent improvement over last year.

“That’s good news for L.A. beachgoers at a majority of beach locations,” said Heal the Bay Water Quality Director Kirsten James.

Heal the Bay attributed the improvement to ongoing infrastructure improvements, mainly stormwater diversion systems that keep bacteria-laden runoff from washing into the ocean.

A press conference held to announce the results of the 2011-12 report card took place at the beach in Pacific Palisades, where construction is underway on an $8 million system that will divert runoff from flowing into the waters off Will Rogers Beach and spreading further south into the Santa Monica Bay.

Installing similar systems is among the steps Heal the Bay said the city of Santa Monica has taken in the past few years to improve its water quality, too. Others include retrofitting major streets with biofilter swales, infiltration areas and a drip irrigation systems and requiring developers to build "low impact" projects. 

But most of the beaches in Los Angeles, including Santa Monica, continue to notch failing grades when rainy months are factored into the scores. During the winter, stormwater diversion systems can't typically capture all of the polluted runoff that gushes into the ocean. 

Year-round grades—which include the winter months—of C's, D's and F's were given to each of the six monitoring locations in Santa Monica. The locations include the drains at Montana Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard, Pico Boulevard, Ashland Avenue and at the Pier and in front of the restrooms at Strand Street.

Lower scores represent higher levels of bacteria that Heal the Bay said put surfers and swimmers at risk for stomach flu, ear infections and skin rashes.

"There's always more that can be done," said Beach Report Card Program Manager Mike Grimmer.

The report card grades more than 650 locations from San Diego County to Whatcom County, WA, in the summer dry weather and more than 300 locations year-round on a scale of A to F.

“No beach should make you sick,” James said.

All county health departments are required to test beach water quality samples for three types of indicator bacteria at least once a week during the summer season. Heal the Bay compiles the data, analyzes it and assigns the letter grades.

Heal the Bay said one of the reasons Los Angeles County beaches score lower than their neighbors in Orange and Ventura is because their monitoring agencies collect samples directly in front of storm drains and creeks that channel runoff into the ocean. Orange and Ventura counties monitor 25 yards or more away from those sources.

A handful of significantly polluted beaches helped drag down L.A. County’s overall grades, most notably in Malibu. The city claimed four of the 10 spots on the Heal the Bay’s Beach Bummers list, a ranking of the 10 most polluted beaches in the state: Puerco Beach, Dan Blocker, Surfrider and Escondido. Other county sites on the Top 10 list "beach bummers" are Topanga State Beach and the harbor side of Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.

In total, 11 beaches in Los Angeles County received F grades during the summer, up from last year’s nine.