Long Beach City Beach Flunks Beach Report: Heal The Bay

LONG BEACH, CA — Long Beach City Beach made its first appearance on the Beach Bummer List, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental group. Heal the Bay's annual Beach Report Card put three L.A. County beaches on the list this year, and Long Beach City Beach was rated fourth worst.

The water quality at Long Beach City Beach is negatively impaced by dry weather runoff, which flows into the ocean through a storm drain, the report said.

"Currently, the City of Long Beach is implementing the Municipal Urban Stormwater Treatment (MUST) project," according to the Heal the Bay report. "The MUST project will catch stormwater and treat it before it can enter the L.A. River and subsequently impact ocean beaches. The treated water will ultimately be used to support wetland restorations."

Two other L.A. County beaches made the Beach Bummer list: Mothers Beach in Marina del Rey returned to this year's list in seventh place after a one-year absence, followed in eighth place by harborside Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.

The beach at San Clemente Pier in Orange County topped the Beach Bummer List, which was released as part of Heal the Bay's 29th annual Beach Report Card. Monarch Beach at Salt Creek was the other Orange County beach to land on the dubious list, placing sixth.

But the news wasn't all bad in the report, which assigns letter grades to beaches throughout California based on water quality. Orange County had 10 beaches listed on the group's Honor Roll, a distinction reserved for beaches that receive an A+ grade for all seasons and weather conditions. A total of 33 out of 500 beaches earned spots on the list.

Three San Clemente beaches made the Honor Roll, along with three in Dana point, two in Huntington Harbor and one each in Corona del Mar in Laguna Beach.

Los Angeles County earned two spots on the Honor Roll — down from eight last year. The ocean side of Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro made the grade, as did Las Tunas County Beach at Pena Creek in Malibu.

Three other Malibu beaches fell off the Honor Roll from last year, as did three in Palos Verdes.

Heal the Bay officials noted in the report that the massive Woolsey Fire contributed to a drop in water quality in Malibu. According to the group, wildfires increase runoff due to the loss of vegetation and infrastructure damage.

According to the report, 95 percent of Southern California beaches received A or B grades for water quality during the dry summer weather. But it emphasized the negative impact of wildfires and rainy weather during the winter across the state.

"California experienced a disproportionate amount of rain and wildfires over the last year, which came with below-average wet-weather grades in 13 our of 17 coastal counties and far below average grades at Malibu beaches where the Woolsey Fire burned," according to the report.

The report calls on the state to improve efforts to capture stormwater and treat it for reuse instead of allowing it to run into the ocean.

City News Service contributed to this post