Skip to main content
Donate

Beach Water Quality In Los Angeles Has Improved

By Clarissa Wei
May 23, 2013
Support Provided By
santamonicabeach-sun_600
Photo: zioWoody/Filckr/Creative Commons License

 

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.

Support Provided By
Read More
A blonde woman wearing a light grey skirt suit stands with her back to the camera as she holds a sheet of paper and addresses a panel at the front of a courtroom

California Passed a Law To Stop 'Pay to Play' in Local Politics. After Two Years, Legislators Want to Gut It

California legislators who backed a 2022 law limiting businesses' and contractors' attempts to sway local elected officials with campaign contributions are now trying to water it down — with the support of developers and labor unions.
By Yue Stella Yu, CalMatters
An oil pump painted white with red accents stands mid-pump on a dirt road under a blue, cloudy sky with a green, grassy slope in the background.

California’s First Carbon Capture Project: Vital Climate Tool or License to Pollute?

California’s first attempt to capture and sequester carbon involves California Resources Corp. collecting emissions at its Elk Hills Oil and Gas Field, and then inject the gases more than a mile deep into a depleted oil reservoir. The goal is to keep carbon underground and out of the atmosphere, where it traps heat and contributes to climate change. But some argue polluting industries need to cease altogether.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters