MOST BEACHES GET CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH FEWER THAN 10% IN L.A., VENTURA COUNTIES RATED BELOW PAR.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

Los Angeles-area beaches should be in good shape for swimming this summer, although some stretches continue to earn poor marks for unhealthy water quality, according to Heal the Bay's annual report released Wednesday.

While more than 90 percent of the coastline in Los Angeles and Ventura counties tested good or excellent in dry-weather water sampling, Surfrider Beach in Malibu, Hobie Beach at Channel Island Harbor Beach Park in Ventura, and Cabrillo Beach near San Pedro all ranked among California's most tainted.

Doheny Beach in Orange County was ranked the worst in the state.

``Just be smart,'' Heal the Bay Executive Director Mark Gold said. ``There are so many clean and beautiful beaches in California, why risk your health when there's an A beach out there?''

Despite the overall positive results for summer water quality, grades drop dramatically during the rainy season, when runoff washes animal waste, pesticides, oil and pollutants from urban areas into the storm-drain system and out to the coast.

In Los Angeles and Ventura counties, about 75 percent of the monitoring sites posted fair to poor grades during the rainy season, meaning it was risky to swim at most of the beaches.

``That's a testament that cities, counties and the state are not doing a good job in reducing pollution in storm water,'' Gold said.

The Beach Report card tracks bacterial testing at 400 monitoring locations along the California coastline. Swimmers face increased risk of stomach flu, ear infections, upper-respiratory infections and skin rashes in water with high concentrations of bacteria.

Gold points to analyses of water quality at different types of beaches where storm water can have a major impact.

About 88 percent of open-ocean beaches with no storm drains received excellent grades. By comparison, 71 percent of beaches with storm drains got A's and only 44 percent of the enclosed bay, harbor and marina beaches often favored by parents of small children had excellent water quality.

Water quality regulators have begun to tackle the storm-water pollution problem.

Municipalities are supposed to eliminate all violations of bacteria standards at beaches during the summer in three years. They have 10 to 18 years to cut bacteria levels at beaches during rainy days, a tougher task, officials said.

There should be improvements this summer when four systems to catch low flows of storm water for treatment are installed at problem areas, such as near Temescal Canyon, Santa Monica Canyon and Venice City Beach.

Roughly $11.5 million has been designated for Los Angeles County beaches under the state's Clean Beach Initiative to tackle bacteria problems.

In Ventura County, Hobie Beach and Kiddie Beach at Channel Island Harbor Beach Park have perennial problems. The county has established a task force to study high bacteria at Kiddie Beach, but is still stumped over the cause.

``We still see spikes. It's not the kind of pattern we're seeing at other beaches,'' said Richard Hawge, coordinator of ocean water quality monitoring at the Ventura County Environmental Health Division.

Another regular on the list of worst beaches is Surfrider Beach in Malibu - a premier surfing destination. The beach has excellent water quality from April to October, when the nearby Tapia Sewage Treatment Plant cannot discharge. But bacteria levels climb and water quality drops to an F the rest of the year when the plant is discharging, Gold said.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Ben Thomas, 13, of Newbury Park, left, buries his brother, Sasha, 8, in sand Wednesday at Leo Carillo Beach.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

BEACH REPORT CARD

SOURCE: Heal the Bay