Two non-profit organizations, Heal the Bay and the Natural Resources Defense Council, (NRDC), recently released reports on the health of L.A County beaches. The NRDC gave Redondo beaches a low grade, while Heal the Bay announced a rise in water quality and average ratings for South Bay beaches.
According to NRDC, California was ranked 21 in beach water quality out of 30 states. The study indicated that nine percent of the beaches compared poorly exceeded national EPA standards. According to NRDC, this means that 1 in 28 swimmers could potentially become ill from contaminations in the water or on the beach.
“Because polluted runoff is the biggest known source of pollution that causes swimming advisories or beach closings, EPA needs to reform the national requirements that govern sources of polluted storm water…” said the NRDC release.
Of Heal the Bay’s 441 beaches monitored, 407 beaches received a grade of A or B from their A-F system used to measure contaminations. That is a two percent leap from the 2010 monitoring year. Seven of the 10 beaches that made the “California Beach Bummer” list are located in L.A. County. However, none of them are in the South Bay.
“In general, open ocean beaches with no known pollution sources have excellent water quality during summer dry weather, with a five-year trend of 98 percent A grades. In other beach types, such as storm drain impacted or enclosed beaches are more inconsistent,” the Heal the Bay annual report gave the south side of the Redondo Beach pier a year-round grade of B in the summer and C in the winter. One hundred yards south of the pier received a summer grade of B and a winter grade of A. Topaz Street north of the jetty and Sapphire Street both received A ratings during both seasons. Recently the scores have increased, and Heal the Bay rated the Redondo pier with an A+ and the Topaz jetty an A rating, in dry weather. Wet weather grades can vary greatly depending on storm runoff.
“On average the pier in Redondo has had problematic grades,” said Mike Grimmer from Heal the Bay. “This year it got B during summer which seems to be an improvement.”
Three Redondo Beach beaches were graded by the NRDC and were rated on a five-star basis. Only one, Torrance Beach, received four stars. The others located at the Topaz Jetty and the Redondo Beach pier earned only two stars, based on water-quality, monitoring frequency and public notification of contaminations. No beaches in the South Bay received a five-star rating.
“When there’s storms there is big impact on water quality,” said Kirstin James from Heal the Bay.
Those grades can change on a day-to-day basis depending on daily or weekly water quality tests done by the L.A. City Environmental Monitoring Division, the L.A. County Department of Public Health and the City of Redondo Beach.
Currently there is no system to indicate water quality to beachgoers while they are at the beach, but Heal the Bay is working with the L.A. County Department of Public Health to implement a system to indicate grades to beach goers that would be attached to lifeguard stands. “That’s in the works and hopefully something that will come up soon,” said James.
“It’s important to check most recent data,” said Grimmer. “Most beaches in California are safe to swim at, but checking is important.”
Many beachgoers have also been reporting an uptick in plastic bags and trash in the water and on the beach. Because of L.A’s recent ban on plastic bags, researchers hope less plastic will make its way into the water.
“A lot of plastic pollution has been documented by many researchers,” said James. “By eliminating the source of this plastic pollution we can help improve our water body.”
Hydraulic dredging by the Army Corps of Engineers in Marina Del Rey to move 760,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from Marina Del Rey to the Port of Long Beach, Dockweiler Beach and Redondo Beach for the South Bay beach replenishment project, has also been affecting short-term water clarity, but not contamination issues, according to Heal the Bay. Researches expect the water to clear once the dredging project is finished in September 2012.
To stay safe, Water Quality Scientist Amanda Griesbach recommends not swimming within 100 meters of discharge pipes no matter the grade.
“They tend to have higher levels of bacteria,” said Griesbach. “Currently Redondo Beach is looking good, but that can change daily. It’s really important for public health protection that the grades are as high as they can be.”
Visit www.beachreportcard.org to view the Heal the Bay daily report card and www.nrdc.org to see a comprehensive analysis of California beaches.
