CLEAN BEACHES A REWARD FOR NASTY DROUGHT.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer Drought conditions "Drought Conditions" is episode 126 of The West Wing. Plot Senator Rafferty, a new presidential candidate garnered much media attention with a ground-breaking speech about health care. in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, have produced at least one positive result: Cleaner beaches. Ninety-four percent of beaches in Ventura County and 87 percent in Los Angeles County were rated excellent or good by the environmental watchdog group Heal the Bay Heal the Bay is a U.S. environmental advocacy non-profit organization based in Santa Monica, California. Heal the Bay is dedicated to protecting California's Santa Monica Bay, a region of the Pacific coast encompassed by Malibu's Point Dume on the north and the Palos Verdes in its annual Summer Beach Report Card released Wednesday. That's about about a 5 percentage point increase from last year, largely because contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. creeks and storm water drains have slowed to a trickle. Plus two notoriously polluted beaches - Surfrider in Malibu and Avalon Beach on Catalina Island - received A's for the first time since the group began its report card 10 years ago. ``Surfers keep commenting on how clean it is now,'' Heal the Bay Executive Director Mark Gold said of Surfrider Beach, which is historically the most polluted beach in Santa Monica Bay Santa Monica Bay is an arm of the Pacific Ocean in southern California, United States. Its boundaries are slightly ambiguous, but it is generally considered to be the part of the Pacific within an imaginary line drawn between Point Dume . But the coastline still has its problem spots. Hobie and Kiddie kid·die or kid·dy n. pl. kid·dies Slang A small child. kiddie Noun Informal a child Beaches in Oxnard's Channel Islands Harbor and Rincon Beach up the coast from Ventura are the stains on Ventura County's otherwise pristine coastline. Stretches of Will Rogers State Beach, Santa Monica Beach, Cabrillo Beach and Avalon Beach still merit D's and F's for high levels of bacteria. Heal the Bay's report card is based on bacterial tests made from June through October. Rainwater carries animal waste, septic tank overflow and other bacteria sources into storm water drains and perennial creeks and out to the bay. The result is high bacteria levels, which can cause gastrointestinal illnesses and ear, eye or skin infections to those who go in the water. The lack of rain has dried out those creeks and drains, which is why Surfrider Beach posted such an improvement, Gold said. Pollution levels will jump back up in the next heavy rain, he said - ``No question about it.'' Avalon Beach on Catalina Island was a true success story. The city of Avalon received $500,000 from the Proposition 13 Clean Beach Initiative to study and begin to address the beach's serious contamination problems. The study discovered some leaks in the sewer system, which were fixed this year and are the reason for Avalon Beach's improved grade this summer. ``We've gone from 17 'hot' readings in two-month period to three. That's a very significant difference,'' Avalon City Manager Rob Clark said. Avalon and other agencies are also using dry-weather diversion systems, which catch trickling storm water and send it to treatment plants. Will Rogers State Park continually ranks among the most polluted beaches. That may change after the diversion system is installed before next summer, Gold said. In Ventura County, various agencies are trying to tackle the high bacteria levels at manmade Kiddie Beach, which was given an F this summer and is usually on the Heal the Bay's ``Bummer bum·mer n. 1. Slang An adverse reaction to a hallucinogenic drug. 2. Slang One that depresses, frustrates, or disappoints: Getting stranded at the airport was a real bummer. Beach'' list. ``We really don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what's causing the spikes and noncompliance noncompliance failure of the owner to follow instructions, particularly in administering medication as prescribed; a cause of a less than expected response to treatment. noncompliance out there,'' said Christy Madden, chair of the Kiddie Beach Task Force, which is pursuing a $1.5 million grant to design a water circulation system to stir up the stagnant harbor. They will also try to limit the build up of dog, feral cat and bird waste. ``We hope to get these questions answered and hopefully get our names off the list,'' Madden said. Statewide, the number of good-to-excellent beaches rose by 6 percent, according to the Heal the Bay report. There were no F-grade beaches in Santa Barbara County. Orange County had six locations with failing marks: Huntington State Beach Huntington State Beach is a protected beach in Southern California, located in the City of Huntington Beach in Orange County. The beach extends two miles from Newport Beach (Santa Ana River) north to Beach Blvd. where the Huntington City Beach begins. at Magnolia Street; Newport Bay at 43rd Street and Harbor Patrol Bay; Doheny Beach; San Clemente at Poche Beach; and Dana Point Harbor at Baby Beach. CAPTION(S): map Map: BEACH REPORT CARD SOURCE: Heal the Bay Daily News |
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