Water quality considered the worst in Los Angeles County. Malibu beaches are still far behind.
By Carolanne Sudderth/Special to The Malibu Times
Malibu beaches are barely holding their own, and at some Malibu locations it’s not even doing that according to Heal the Bay’s Summer Beach Report Card.
Released mid-October, the Beach Report Card provides a recap of dry weather water quality testing from Memorial Day 2003 through Labor Day 2003. The local prognosis is not good.
“This summer Los Angeles County had the worst water quality in the state while other counties, including Ventura and Santa Barbara, had excellent water quality,” said Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay.
Heal the Bay monitors some 448 locations from Northern California to the Mexican border. Specific sites are regularly tested for total coliform, fecal coliform and enterococcus bacteria to assess the risk of becoming ill after swimming.
This year, 89 percent (397 of 448) locations up the coast received an A or B grade (excellent or very good), an increase from the 76 percent receiving A or B grades in 2002
Malibu’s northern beaches showed slight improvement. Trancas, Westward beaches and Latigo Canyon Creek beaches continued to maintain the A-plus grade they received last year. The waters off Leo Carrillo, Nicholas Canyon Beach and Paradise Cove were upgraded from A to A-plus. Puerco also received another A.
However, the news is not all as good. From Puerco Canyon south, every beach in Malibu shows a downturn in water quality. Some of these like Puerco are slight (A-plus to A). Others, however, have shown a dramatic downshift.
Surfrider, in particular, which had previously been rated A-plus, slid to a C at the Malibu Colony fence and to the bottom of the scale – all the way to F- at the breach location this year. It was numbered among Heal the Bay’s 18 “Beach Bummers.”
Likewise the waters near Topanga Creek dropped from an A-minus grade in 2002 to a D this year. Malibu Pier dropped from A to C and Big Rock from A-plus to B.
Spokesperson Hallie Jones said the main reason for the downturn is the lagoon’s breaching – breaking through to the sea carrying with it runoff, pesticides and whatever else has been dumped into the creeks and rivers feeding it.
“In Malibu, what you see is good water quality when the lagoon is closed, but when the lagoon is breached, then you start seeing poorer water quality,” Jones said. “So I would assume that is what is happening. What could happen is that one summer could be sealed and not breach for the entire season, whereas a number of summers it could breach and stay open, which would definitely affect water quality for the entire summer.”
As it seldom rains in summer, causes for the breakthrough would be probably through increases in feeder creeks. In the case of Malibu Canyon, it could also be due to a greater release from the Tapia Water Treatment Facility.
Unlike Santa Monica’s SMURF which recycles storm water, Tapia is a sewage treatment plant.
“I don’t know if they reclaim in any water,” Jones said, “but it works similar to Hyperion, it collects waste water and discharges it, and they’re very highly regulated as to when they can discharge and what levels they can discharge.”
I’m not sure what would be the most likely cause [for the breaching],” Jones said, “but those are two options, or if Tapia water facility were discharging more water, that could cause the lagoon to breach.”
However, there are no water treatment plants near Topanga Creek, which dropped from A to D this year. She was unable to hazard a guess to reasons feeder creeks to rise during the dry season, forcing the breach.
For the future, Jones said that she’d like to see more water treatment plants set up — perhaps in Malibu.
“Anything we can capture water and treat it before it’s discharged is going to make a huge difference,” she said.