For the first time in several years, Malibu has no beaches appearing on the top 10 Beach Bummer list.
By Jonathan Friedman / Special to The Malibu Times
The water quality has improved at several beaches in Malibu. But there is still room for improvement. That was the conclusion of the 2009-10 Beach Report Card, which was released last week by the Santa Monica-based water quality watchdog group Heal the Bay.
“I’m really happy that the water quality in Malibu is improving,” City Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich said. “I think credit goes to the multipronged approach the city has taken to do what we can.”
The Heal the Bay report analyzes beaches throughout the state of California, and gives them letter grades for their water quality. For the first time in several years, Malibu has no beaches appearing on the top 10 Beach Bummer List, which names the most polluted beaches in the state. Surfrider Beach, a usual regular on the list was not on it this year. But its water quality is still nothing to crow about. The beach was up one grade this year to a C for the important data gathering period from April through October required by AB 411, a 1999 environmental law that mandates state beach health standards. The beach received an F in all other measurement categories, including year-round dry weather and year-round wet weather.
“At least it’s not on the Bummer list this year,” Heal the Bay President Mark Gold said half-jokingly during an interview on Tuesday at the Santa Monica Pier.
He continued, “When that lagoon is sealed up, the water quality at the beach is excellent. And when it’s open, the water quality is poor. It’s really that simple, and we’ve got a long way to go there.”
But Gold acknowledged some victories in Malibu. Paradise Cove and the Marie Canyon storm drain at Puerco Beach, both Bummer list alumni, were up from Fs to Bs for the AB 411 measurement period. The improvement at Marie Canyon, which is under Los Angeles County jurisdiction, can be attributed to a new treatment facility installed in late 2007 that was designed to filter and treat as much as 100 gallons per minute of dry weather runoff. Pump problems delayed the progress, but this has since been fixed and led to the improved water quality, Heal the Bay officials said.
Regarding Paradise Cove’s improvement, Gold said, “I think a lot of that has to do with there has been so much focus on water quality at Ramirez Canyon, plus the fact that finally the sewage treatment plant was completed for that area. So you’re not seeing all the sewage spills that happened over the years.”
Gold said the water quality at Paradise Cove should improve even further once the improved dry weather runoff treatment facility at the bottom of the watershed is installed. A ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of this facility is scheduled to take place on June 28.
“It will be really exciting after all these years to have a treatment plant that’s really going to make sure that beach will never be on the Beach Bummer list ever again, and pretty much should get straight As,” Gold said.
All other Malibu beaches received either an A or an A-plus for AB 411 period measurements. The A-plus beaches are Leo Carrillo, Nicholas, El Pescador, Encinal Canyon, Broad, Carbon and Las Flores.
Regarding wet weather grades, Malibu had a mix, ranging from A to F. But this is not a situation unique to Malibu. Forty-five percent of the beaches measured statewide received grades of C or worse, while only 10 percent of the beaches measured during dry weather earned those low scores.
“The disparity between dry and wet weather water quality continues to be dramatic, thereby demonstrating that California is not successfully reducing storm water runoff pollution,” the Heal the Bay Report Card states.
Overall, Los Angeles County is the most polluted area in the state. Although the amount of beaches earning A or B grades has improved from 70 percent last year to 79 percent this year, the county still has five of the 10 beaches on the Bummer list. This includes Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island, which ranks number one and has been on the Bummer list for nine of the past 11 years.
“A handful of chronically polluted beaches in Malibu, Santa Monica, Avalon and Long Beach helped drag down the county’s overall grades,” a Heal the Bay press release stated.
Beginning next fiscal year, there is no guaranteed funding from Sacramento to do water quality testing. This is a concern for Heal the Bay officials and other water quality advocates.
“With 100 million people visiting beaches in the state each year, it’s simply not acceptable to fail to guarantee ongoing funding for water quality testing statewide,” Gold said in a written statement. “We realize lawmakers must prioritize in difficult economic times, but placing public health at risk by cutting back on testing is a bad move.”
Heal the Bay says it will work with state and local governments to ensure that ongoing funding is secured.
The Beach Report Card can be viewed online at www.healthebay.org