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Beach Water Quality In Los Angeles Has Improved

By Clarissa Wei
May 23, 2013
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The annual Beach Report Card is in and the results are good news for Southern Californians.

Overall water quality at Los Angeles County beaches showed definite improvement, according to a survey by Heal the Bay. Although Catalina Island's Avalon Harbor is still the most polluted in the state, 93 percent of monitored beaches got an A or B grade in California. In Los Angeles, 84 percent of beaches received a grade of A or B, which is a 2 percent improvement over last year's scores.

Some, however, suggest to take the news with a grain of salt. "We are heartened by numerous individual beach success stories, but extremely dry weather is likely masking the severity of stormwater pollution," Kirsten James, Heal the Bay's science and policy director, told City News Service.

Statewide, only 3 percent of sites flunked the test. Ventura and Santa Barbara County took the prize for having the cleanest beach water quality in Southern California.

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