Heal the Bay Blog

Aug. 17, 2016 —  Just departed president Alix Hobbs made asking the hard questions look easy, writes Communications Director Matthew King.

No. It’s one of the simplest words in the English language, but often one of the hardest to say.

Heal the Bay has a team of passionate advocates whose heads are filled with big ideas. These well-meaning initiatives, cooked up in the excitement of a brainstorming meeting or a flurry of overly optimistic emails, can quickly take a life of their own. Other priorities established weeks ago are set aside, as the team chases the new concept like 8-year-olds scurrying in unison after a soccer ball at a Saturday AYSO game.

The problem with good ideas is that they are just ideas – and often not very good ones. (“Hey, let’s create a giant sea star on the beach made of glued-together cigarette butts!”) Pursuing them costs time and money – two of any nonprofit’s most precious assets.

Heal the Bay, like any well-run organization, simply needs someone smart to say No. Someone to ask the hard questions. For many years that person was Alix Hobbs, our just departed president.

It isn’t an easy job, nor a glamorous one, but it’s critical to our success. She had to make choices on matters as mundane as selecting our credit card company, and as soul-shaking as personnel reductions. And during my nine-year tenure here, Alix did it with conviction, fairness and a clear sense of purpose.

Nonprofits love to hold meetings.  We discuss items to death. We form subcommittees to offer preferred alternatives. Everyone has a voice, and consensus is desperately sought. But ultimately someone has to make a decision. And lately that fell to Alix in her duties overseeing Heal the Bay for the past two years.

A naval commander’s daughter, Alix was to the captain’s bridge born. When faced with a decision, she surveys the options as if scanning the open sea. After careful consideration, amid often conflicting voices, she’ll speak in a firm, clear voice about which way to point the boat. That confidence is reassuring to a busy crew seeking calm in the middle of a minor squall.

Alix had grown up professionally at the organization, serving capably in a variety of roles for nearly 20 years – from volunteer to Coastal Cleanup Day coordinator to Programs Director. But some of her greatest work came serving largely behind the scenes as Associate Director during the tenure of past president Mark Gold. Essentially acting as our CFO, she made sure the trains ran on time — managing budgets, overseeing operations, shepherding grants — so our policy and education teams could do their amazing work.

Then the board threw her into a new challenge – settling the HTB ship after a few turbulent years. As our new chief, she was tasked with spearheading the creation and adoption of a comprehensive 10-year strategic plan. She also was asked to lead a fundraising campaign to solidify our financial foundation as the regional economy finally woke from its slumber.

Speaking directly and confidently with the media and general public, Alix made my job as Communications Director easier. Statuesque with preppy good looks, she exudes self-assurance. I once told her that she reminded me of the dark-haired actress Ali MacGraw. She quickly shot back: “Who’s Ali MacGraw?,” making me feel a thousand years old. (If you’re under 40, you can Google “Love Story” or “Steve McQueen’s wife.”)

But Alix and I occasionally butted heads over the years, be it about staffing levels in my department or the tone of an email blast. I’m a right-brain type, acting on instinct and intuition; she’s a left-brainer, guided by reason and analytics. We usually approached a potential problem from differing perspectives. But we typically came to an agreement that best served the organization. To her credit, she trusted me to do my job and always gave me creative latitude and authority.

Having fulfilled her mandate, Alix is now moving on and has accepted a job as president of the Crystal Cove Alliance in Newport Beach. She’ll get a chance to test out her entrepreneurial skills and expand her management chops in the hospitality field.

The good news is that Alix will remain connected to Heal the Bay. She has accepted a voting position on our board of directors and will have a voice in our future direction.

With respect and gratitude, I look forward to hearing many more No’s from her.

Aug. 15, 2016 — Longtime board member takes reins from Alix Hobbs, who is departing for new job running the Crystal Cove Alliance in Orange County.

Heal the Bay’s board of directors has announced that Stephanie Medina will serve as interim president and CEO following the recent departure of  Alix Hobbs as chief of the environmental nonprofit.

Medina, a longtime board member and past chairman, will assume responsibility for financial, operational and strategic oversight of the organization.

She will share management duties with vice president Sarah Sikich, who oversees science and policy initiatives. In the coming months, the board will pursue a leadership search that includes both internal and external candidates.

The move follows the board of directors’ adoption of comprehensive 10-year strategic plan spearheaded by Hobbs, as well as a highly successful fundraising campaign to solidify the group’s financial foundation amid a slowly recovering regional economy.

Hobbs, a nearly 20-veteran of the Santa Monica-based nonprofit, has accepted a job as president of the Crystal Cove Alliance in Newport Beach. She will remain connected to Heal the Bay, and has accepted a voting position on our board of directors.

“The Heal the Bay family is exactly that — a family of devoted, passionate, capable and smart people,” said Hobbs. “So stepping away after all these years is emotional. But I depart knowing that we have left the next generation with something much better than what we inherited.”

A San Fernando Valley resident, Medina has held several management positions in the nonprofit and media sectors. She most recently served as a senior vice president of community relations for the Special Olympics’ World Games 2015, following positions directing Public Affairs at broadcast stations KTLA and KCAL/KCBS. She also served on the city of Los Angeles’ Transportation Commission.

“Having served on the board for so many years, I got to see the good work that our staff and volunteers do,” said Medina. “But now I get to come into our office every day! I couldn’t be more honored to lead the team in our next phase of growth.”

As part of its new strategic plan, the staff and board of Heal the Bay is focusing on three key directional goals in the coming decade:

• To better protect public health, we will work to ensure that people can swim and fish at every beach in L.A. County without risk of getting sick.
• To ensure a more sustainable water future, we will work to ensure that L.A. County sources 60% of its water locally through conservation and reuse by 2025.
• To restore the vibrancy of our local oceans and watersheds, we will work to ensure that all greater L.A. coastal and river habitats are healthy.

July 27, 2016 — Heal the Bay released today a landmark study of water quality in the Los Angeles River. Dr. Katherine Pease, the study’s author, explains why improving the river’s water quality should be an integral part of any plan to restore it.

Last week’s massive 2.4 million gallon sewage spill into the Los Angeles River and subsequent closure of local beaches illustrates the serious water-quality challenges facing our inland waterways.

Sewage spills are unusual one-time events, but a new study that I have just completed demonstrates that bacterial pollution continues to plague the river on a chronic, long-term basis. We are releasing the results today.

The findings are a cause for both concern and opportunity — given the growing recreational uses of the river and a $1 billion revitalization plan for L.A.’s central water body.

The L.A. River Study

• Full Report
• Recreation Zone Maps
• Figures
• Appendices
• Press Release

The study shows that popular recreation spots along the Los Angeles River suffer from very poor water quality, which poses health risks to the growing number of people who fish, swim and kayak in its waters.

Kayaking and other recreational opportunities are frequently described by participants as transformational in their perception of the Los Angeles River. Getting on the water helps people move beyond the stereotypical image of a concrete drainage ditch to a vision of a vibrant river filled with life and potential.

My transformational moment at the river took place in 2009 when I was asked by a friend to participate in River School, an educational event put on by Friends of the Los Angeles River (FOLAR) in the Elysian Valley. We scouted an area by Fletcher Avenue the day before, searching for examples of native and non-native plants as well as aquatic life in scoops of water.

I was amazed at this newly discovered area that had been hiding in plain sight. I found a hawk pellet underneath an overpass of a busy street. I ate a mulberry from a tree growing in the river. I also saw signs of a waterbody that needed help. Pollution in the form of trash was obvious, but the unseen pollution was also troubling.

The importance of developing a personal connection to the river cannot be overstated. Heal the Bay hopes that people continue to have transformational moments in its waters and that the river itself can be transformed into a waterbody meeting its beneficial uses of recreation, recharging groundwater, and providing habitat for wildlife.

But we have a long way to go – as the study clearly demonstrates.

Building on Heal the Bay’s work as a watchdog for public health at local beaches, we began monitoring popular, previously unmonitored freshwater recreational areas in 2014 starting with swimming holes in the Santa Monica Mountains, and adding sites in the L.A. River in 2015.

Heal the Bay staff scientists collected and tested water samples weekly for fecal indicator bacteria at three sites in the two recreation zones in the Sepulveda Basin and Elysian Valley areas of the river over a three-month period in summer 2015.

Bacteria levels varied among the sites in the new L.A. River study, but overall were quite high. For example, samples for one type of fecal indicator bacteria, Enterococcus, exceeded federal standards 100% of the time at two sites in Elysian Valley (Rattlesnake Park and Steelhead Park) and 50% of the time in Sepulveda Basin. The Rattlesnake Park site also suffered from a 67% exceedance rate for E. coli.

These exceedances indicate risk for ear infections, respiratory illnesses and gastrointestinal illnesses for people who come in contact with the water.

Much of the water that flows in the L.A. River is highly treated and sanitized wastewater from the city of L.A.’s Tillman Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, nearly 16 million gallons a day. Tillman’s discharge is not considered a source of bacterial pollution, and without its flow there would likely be no kayaking in the Los Angeles River.

Although the recreation zones were previously unassessed, monitoring in other stretches of the L.A. River show high bacteria counts, which led to the L.A. River’s designation by the state as a bacteria-impaired waterbody. The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has also imposed a bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL, for the river, which identifies several contributors of harmful bacteria to recreational zones along the river: urban runoff, leaks and flows from wastewater collection systems, illicit connections and failing septic systems. Bacteria sources include pets, horses and human waste.

By law, cities along the river and entities who discharge into it are required to enact pollution-reducing measures to comply with the federal Clean Water Act. The final deadlines for these regulations are a ways off, with interim and final goals set for 2030 and 2037, respectively. However, cities have worked together to develop an Enhanced Watershed Management Plan to address these issues with shorter-term milestones along the way.

In the report, Heal the Bay staff scientists laud recent efforts to revitalize the L.A. River and to open up public access to recreational zones. However, water quality improvements are needed to expand these opportunities and protect public health.

The federal Army Corps of Engineers has an approved $1.3-billion plan to revitalize an 11-mile stretch of the river, focusing on habitat and recreational improvement. Heal the Bay strongly urges that rehabilitation work incorporate specific and measurable measures to enhance water quality.

The full report has a detailed list of recommendations for increasing beneficial uses while protecting public health. Among them:

• Swimming: While many families recreate in the water, particularly on hot days, adults and children should avoid swimming in the L.A. River, particularly submersing their heads under water. We envision a swimmable L.A. River one day but current water quality is not yet at a healthful level. If there is any water contact, rinse off with soap and water afterward.
• Kayaking and Angling: People should limit water contact, especially avoiding hand-to-face water contact. Users should not enter the water with an open wound, if immunocompromised, or after a rainfall. If there is water contact, rinse off with soap and water afterward.
• Public notification: All groups promoting recreation in the L.A. River should provide water quality information and best practices to all participants, using consistent, accurate and prominent information on all outreach materials, and in multiple languages, consistent with the demographics of visitors.
• Increased monitoring: The City of Los Angeles or responsible municipal agency should institute, at a minimum, weekly water quality testing for fecal indicator bacteria in the recreation zones during the open season (Memorial Day to the end of September), and at other known swimming spots along the Los Angeles River.

The City of Los Angeles recently convened a stakeholder workshop to discuss water quality issues in the L.A. River and specific near-term and long-term measures to ensure that the public is informed of water quality issues. We had a robust discussion about ways to minimize risk and to implement solutions to reduce chronic pollution. We are cautiously optimistic and look forward to working with the City to put these plans into motion.

At the regional level, Heal the Bay continues to advocate for funding for comprehensive water-quality improvement projects like increased stormwater capture and wastewater recycling. These measures would reduce polluted flow into our recreation zones while increasing local water supplies in a time of drought.

About Heal the Bay and the L.A. River

Heal the Bay has been monitoring water quality in streams and rivers since 1998 through our Stream Team program. In 2014 we initiated a pilot study to monitor human use and water quality of freshwater swimming spots in the Santa Monica Mountains, focusing on bacterial pollution and public health implications.

We are currently in our third summer of monitoring water quality in those swimming locations. Given Heal the Bay’s 25-year history of informing and educating beach-goers about beach water quality through our Beach Report Card, assessing the water quality of the Los Angeles River recreation zones was a natural next step.

Heal the Bay has a long history of work on the Los Angeles River; we have advocated for improved habitat, water quality, and recreation by weighing in on numerous policies and permits concerning the Los Angeles River such as TMDLs, the Recreational Use Reassessment (RECUR) study, permits for dredging and clearing vegetation, and other regulatory actions.

July 8, 2016 — Yesterday the Board of Supervisors voted to place the parks and open space funding measure on the ballot for this November – a crucial step in achieving our shared goals for access to clean, safe, water smart parks and open space across LA County! The measure will be a 1.5 cent per square foot tax levied annually – which means it will require a supermajority vote in November. $98 million dollars will be created by the tax, which will be managed by LA County’s Open Space District. There is a state measure moving through the legislature but local funding is key because it provides much needed maintenance money that the state bond will not.

Heal the Bay completed its 2015 strategic plan which included a new area of focus called Healthy Watersheds. To meet our new goal of connecting inland communities to their watersheds and to restore the vibrancy of our watersheds, Heal the Bay joined the #OurParks coalition with Trust for Public Land, Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy and many other groups to support the LA County Parks and Open Space measure. An unprecedented needs assessment illuminated $20 billion of needs across the county. The need for funding is urgent, since the last existing dedicated parks funding is set to expire in 2019.

Parks represent the vast majority of open space we have left in our dense, concrete laden watersheds. We have worked very closely with the Open Space District to ensure the grant programs within this funding measure will provide protection and opportunities for nature based solutions to our challenged water resources, including using parks to capture storm water, creating linear greenways along our rivers, and cool our cities – in addition to their traditional roles like creating safe places to play. This measure matched with future storm water funding will provide leverage for cities using parks to build projects to meet storm water quality mandates. The money can be used to:

• Protect clean water resources, including rivers and creeks
• Reduce gang activity and provide safe places to play
• Ensure drinking water is safe at park and recreation centers
• Remove asbestos, mold and lead paint from aging recreation centers
• Protect and preserve parks and natural areas
• Keep beaches open, clean and safe
• Supports funding for high need areas

It was disappointing to hear the opposition from the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. When Gary Toebben, president, said “It’s pretty easy to have a cup of coffee when someone else is paying for it”, County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl replied, “You’ve had plenty of our cups of coffee.” She noted that commercial properties have received favorable treatment under Proposition 13, the property tax initiative approved by California voters in 1978.

What’s next? Click here to learn more about the campaign and final ballot language for the Safe Clean Neighborhood Parks, Open Space, Beaches, Rivers Protection and Water Conservation Measure.

June 23, 2016 — Oozing through the Hall Canyon in Ventura, a crude oil leak was spotted at 5:30 a.m. this morning headed toward the Pacific Ocean. The oil spill traveled over half a mile towards Ventura’s beaches and ocean before it was contained by Ventura County firefighters. Fortunately, reports indicate that the leak was stopped before hitting the water, which would have even more devastating ecological effects to our coast. With last year’s Refugio Oil Spill still fresh in our minds, there are a number of lessons learned regarding response and regulations we hope to see applied, to both prevent and minimize the environmental impacts of these oil spills.

Rapid response and containment is critical before oil reaches a waterway. Unfortunately, with so much oil infrastructure in California, the question isn’t if oil spills will happen, but when. The environmental impacts once oil is spilled are unavoidable, but if it reaches the ocean the cleanup and containment is nearly impossible, which makes those impacts much worse.

Spill size estimates are often incorrect or under-reported. The initial estimate of today’s spill was 5,000 barrels, which has since been reduced to 700 barrels –the equivalent of nearly 30,000 gallons. Unfortunately, initial spill size estimates are often low-balled. For a leak to be measured it must first be detected. Unfortunately these systems aren’t always functional. It’s imperative that close attention is provided in the review and determination of a final spill volume so that the responsible parties are held accountable for damages.

Oil spill response authorities should work with local entities to ensure that local knowledge is incorporated into spill response. Locals know their favorite spots best. They can help monitor progress on cleanups and any potential negative impacts afterwards, as well as ensure that cleanup efforts return natural resources back to baseline status.

Public outreach is critical. It’s important that the potential public health impacts associate with an oil spill are clearly communicated to the public, especially when oil is spilled in high-use areas like neighborhoods, trails and beaches. Air quality is currently being monitored in Ventura based upon noxious odors and concerns of crude vapors related to today’s spill.

Pipeline monitoring and maintenance is imperative to find and fix structural issues before they become problems. Pipeline infrastructure in the state is aging, putting our valuable natural resources at great risk. Last year in the aftermath of the Refugio oil spill, Governor Brown signed SB 295 into law, which requires annual pipeline inspections with State Fire Marshal oversight (previously they had been done every other year).

Oil pipeline operations should be improved to reduce the amount of oil spilled when there is a leak or rupture. This is especially true in ecologically sensitive areas such as riparian corridors and coastal watersheds. Leak detection, automatic shut-off systems, and other technologies are designed to minimize leakage during oil spills. SB 864 was passed and signed into law last year requiring oil companies operating in California to develop plans by 2018 for using such technologies to retrofit their pipelines by 2020.

Additional regulations and policies are still needed to help protect communities from noxious oil spills, including:

• Closing loopholes in the California Coastal Sanctuary Act that allow for slant drilling out into coastal waters. The CCSA was designed to prohibit new oil and gas leasing in state waters, but unfortunately a loophole exists in the state legislation that allows for oil and gas extraction in state-owned submerged lands if those lands are being drained from producing wells upon adjacent federal lands.
• State Lands Commission has authority over leasing of oil and gas operations in California. Heal the Bay has been encouraging this agency to prioritize identification, monitoring, and tracking of legacy sources of oil and gas in the environment including leaks, seeps, and abandoned wells. There are hundreds of abandoned wells in the Los Angeles region alone, which could be contributing to leaks and pollution. The State Lands Commission should work with relevant public and private entities to ensure such legacy sources are abated and cleaned up.

How you can help. It is important to resist the urge to participate in cleanup efforts. Oil is a hazardous liquid with toxic vapors, and needs to be removed with care. The best thing you can do is to report any abnormal amounts of oil to the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802. Likewise, if you see any oiled wildlife, do not pick up or try to rescue the animal. Wildlife capture takes special training to prevent injury to the animal as well as the person. Please reported oiled wildlife you see to 1-877-UCD-OWCN and trained experts will respond.

For additional information on the Ventura County oil spill, you can check out the Los Angeles Times article.

June 10, 2016 — A bit of June gloom couldn’t put a damper on our annual “Bring Back the Beach” fundraising gala, held on the sands of the Jonathan Club in Santa Monica.

A night at our annual party is like a day at the beach, with an amazing cross-section of L.A. gathering to celebrate our region’s greatest natural resource. From Eastside artists to Westside surfers, we’ve got it covered.

We welcomed nearly 1,000 guests, including our usual lively mix of celebs (new HTB fans Andie MacDowell and Perrey Reeves), politicos (Santa Monica Mayor Tony Vazquez and State Sen. Ben Allen), and everyday ocean lovers (you and me!).

Some come for the power schmoozing, others for the Bay Breeze (our take on the classic cocktail), others for the live music (local legends Venice had the boogie-down crowd – led by HTB board chair Don Kinsey and crew — literally begging for more when sound restrictions forced us to close). But all come to support our 31 years of work, which we deeply appreciate.

One of our favorite moments: seeing longtime board member and actress Amy Smart catching up and taking selfies with her “Varsity Blues” co-star Ali Larter. Ali recently reconnected with Heal the Bay, and just packed the house at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium for a fun Saturday morning book reading for kids.

Honorees included HTB board member Executive Vice President with Wells Fargo Capital Finance, Paul Stimpfl, representing the financial services company and longtime supporter of our education efforts at the Aquarium, as well as environmental attorney Felicia Marcus, a founding force of Heal the Bay and current chair of the state’s Water Resources Control Board.

But the loudest cheers seemed to be reserved for our final honoree of the night – the L.A. County Lifeguards. A division of the L.A. County Fire Department, the guards rescue more than 15,000 people who find themselves in trouble in the surf each year.

Given some of the night’s pyrotechnic entertainment, we felt a little relieved to see all the Fire Department brass seated in the front rows. A group of sinewy acrobats from Aerial Culture Inc. tossed blazing batons, ate fire and generally scared the heck out of HTB president Alix Hobbs. Think Cirque du Soleil with flame-throwers.

We met all our fundraising goals for the night, with guests contributing nearly a quarter of our annual operating budget in a single night. A special thanks to HTB board member and Jonathan Beach Club GM Ernie Dunn, who has facilitated our gala for the seventh straight year, and Events By Fabulous, who produced the event.

We’re taking a day off today, but soon enough we’ll be planning for next year’s party. See you on the sand soon. Please enjoy the Bay this summer!

Check out the great photos on our flickr album!

Got killer party pics? Share them on social media and tag @healthebay and #bringbackthebeach!

Photos (top row) by: Jason Kempin for Getty Images

Photos (bottom row, from left) by: Nicola Buck, Nick Colin, David Young-Wolff

May 27, 2016 — The city of Inglewood comes out in favor of a controversial ocean desalination plant proposed for the shoreline in El Segundo, reports staff scientist Steven Johnson.

After a lull in the action, the heated debate over building L.A.’s first full-fledged ocean desalination plant traveled to Inglewood.

West Basin Municipal Water District, which services 17 cities in Los Angeles County, is aiming to build a $300 million plant on the shore in El Segundo. The agency’s hope is to create a minimum of 20 million gallons of drinking water daily.

Heal the Bay and other environmental groups agree that the plant will ultimately be detrimental – it costs too much, uses too much energy and literally sucks life out of the ocean. There are better, underutilized options to augment local water supplies, such as increased water recycling from the nearby Hyperion Treatment Plant. Here are our top five reasons to be wary of desalination.

Pointing out the harm such a plant could do to the ocean, the city councils of both Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach voted unanimously to oppose the project earlier this year. These votes were unfortunately, and in Heal the Bay’s opinion, incorrectly, described at the Inglewood council meeting as motivated simply by a spirit of “Not in My Backyard!”.

To counter that energy, West Basin Board members and staff asked the Inglewood City Council to voice support for the project at a May 17 council meeting.

Public testimony was strongly in favor of the plant, with residents suggesting that the new plant would lead to lower costs for water and that water-deprived parks would be nourished once again. Both of these points run contrary to past experience with desalination plants and the reality of what the proposed plant can provide, however.  The recently built Carlsbad plant’s desalinated water is more expensive than any of San Diego’s other sources of water and West Basin’s proposed 20 million gallon a day plant will only account for 10% of the water supplied o its service area.

Ultimately, the Council voted unanimously to support the project, based on the following conditions suggested by West Basin staff:

• The cost to customers will be cost-competitive to West Basin recycled water.
• The energy involved will be carbon neutral.
• And the protection to the environment will surpass the most stringent environmental regulations in the world.

These are noble goals, but it remains to be seen whether they are realistic. As noted above, recent history with desalination plants suggests otherwise, but Heal the Bay will continue to track development of the plant.

In this election season, here’s a quick primer on where cities stand in the debate over desal.

Running Desalination Score

Read all about our 2016-17 Beach Report Card here.

May 26, 2016 — Californians heading to the shoreline this Memorial Day weekend will be heartened by yet another improvement in water quality at beaches statewide, according to data released today by environmental group Heal the Bay in its 26^th annual Beach Report Card.

Heal the Bay analysts assigned A-to-F letter grades to 456 beaches along the California coast for three reporting periods in 2015-2016, based on levels of weekly bacterial pollution. Some 95% of beaches received A or B grades during the high-traffic summer season (April-October 2015), slightly above the statewide five-year average.

The severe drought now impacting California appears to be a major contributing factor to improved water quality at beaches statewide. With record low rainfall reducing the amount of polluted runoff funneled into our seas, beach grades across the state are consistently outperforming their averages.

The Report

• 2016 Beach Report Card
  PDF
• BeachReportCard.org
• Beach Bummers Slideshow
• California Press Release
  
• Northern California Press Release
  
• Southern California Press Release
  
• San Diego Press Release
  

Overall, only 12 of the 456 beaches (3%) monitored statewide received D or F grades during summer dry weather, when most beachgoers typically use the ocean. High bacteria counts at these sites are linked to such potential illnesses as stomach flu, ear infections and major skin rashes.

To avoid illness, ocean-goers can check the latest water quality grades at their favorite beaches, based on the latest samples, each week at beachreportcard.org.

Heal the Bay also urges beachgoers to avoid enclosed beaches, which are often riddled with harmful bacteria, and to swim at least 100 yards away from flowing storm drains and piers.

Heal the Bay’s annual Beach Bummer List, a ranking of the state’s 10 most polluted beaches, is split among beaches in Southern and Northern California. Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz has the dubious distinction of topping the list for a third year in a row. New entrants this year include Shoreline Park at Shelter Island in San Diego and Monarch Beach near Salt Creek in Dana Point.

This Year’s Top 10 Beach Bummers

1. Cowell Beach, west of the wharf (Santa Cruz County)
2. Clam Beach, near Strawberry Creek (Humboldt County)
3. Shoreline Beach Park at Shelter Island (San Diego County)
4. Monarch Beach, north at Salt Creek (Orange County)
5. Santa Monica Pier (Los Angeles County)
6. Marina del Rey – Mother’s Beach (Los Angeles County)
7. Redondo Municipal Pier (Los Angeles County)
8. Candlestick Point/Sunnydale Cove (San Francisco County)
9. Pillar Point, end of West Point Ave. (San Mateo County)
10. Pismo Beach Pier, 40 feet south (San Luis Obispo County)

Click here a for slideshow with details about challenges at each of the Bummers.

On a more positive note, 34 beaches in the state were named to Heal the Bay’s Honor Roll, meaning they were monitored year-round and scored perfect A+ grades every week of the year, regardless of dry or rainy conditions. San Diego County boasted the most beaches on the Honor Roll, with 14 sites earning top marks.

While low rainfall totals have led to significantly improved water quality statewide, it should be noted that California often swings from extended dry periods to shorter periods of intense, wet weather.

In response, Heal the Bay’s policy staff is advocating for public funding measures to build infrastructure projects that capture, cleanse and reuse stormwater rather than dumping it uselessly into the sea. Progressive city planning, smart public infrastructure and so-called Low Impact Development in the private sector would turn a nuisance into a resource.

While beach water quality grades may be higher in a given year due to less runoff, the results should not provide a false sense of security about long-term improvements at chronically impaired beaches. When the rains come, poorer grades often follow.

Nearly one in four monitored beaches in California received F grades for wet weather in the report, a figure that raises public health concerns for the state’s growing legion of year-round surfers, paddle-boarders and divers. The marked seasonal difference in water quality is why Heal the Bay recommends that ocean-users avoid the water for at least three days after a storm.

Most of the California coastline earned A grades throughout the summer reporting period. Some 86% of L.A. County beaches received A grades for the summer. Beaches in Orange County earned A’s at 94% of locations. San Diego County also scored very well, with 86% of its monitored sites earning A marks in the summer.

Moving up the coast, 100% of Ventura County beaches earned A grades in the summer, while 85% of beaches in Santa Barbara County received top marks. Nearly nine in 10 San Luis Obispo County beaches notched A’s. Some 74% of Santa Cruz beaches scored A summer grades, but it had two beaches receive F grades. Monterey County beaches, which had a few underperforming sites in last year’s report, earned 100% A grades in the latest summer reporting period.

Further north, 82% of San Mateo County beaches scored A grades, but it also had two beaches with a grade of D or F during the summer reporting period. Some 77% of San Francisco locations received A grades for the summer in the report, dragged down by pockets of pollution at bayside beaches. Marin County and Sonoma counties each had 100% of beaches earn an A summer grade. Mendocino and Humboldt counties earned mixed grades.

Heal the Bay to forecast water quality 

This summer Heal the Bay, Stanford University, and UCLA will expand their pilot program to test the effectiveness of new predictive beach water-quality tools. Using sophisticated statistical models, environmental data, and past bacteria samples, the scientific teams are aiming to accurately predict when beaches should be posted with warning or open signs.

Promising results from last year’s pilot at three beaches (Arroyo Burro Beach, Santa Monica Pier Beach, and Doheny Beach) indicated that agencies may be able to post a warning notice immediately at pollution-impacted beaches rather than waiting one-two days for bacteria testing. These new models will protect public health by providing more timely and advanced water quality information to public health officials. This summer, Heal the Bay will add two more beaches to the predictive modeling program – East Beach in Santa Barbara and Belmont Pier in Long Beach.

Read the full report