On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council published their nationwide beachwater quality rankings. Overall, California ranked 20th in Beachwater Quality out of 30 states, with only “8% of samples exceeded national standards for designated beach areas in 2012”.
This report presents information on water quality and beach closings and swimming advisories at more than 3,000 U.S. beaches along the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes. In addition, we’ve rated 200 of the nation’s popular beaches, based on their water quality and monitoring and notification practices.
Based on that description, the NRDC did not actually test water quality for their study, bur rather looked at the number of closures or advisories related to poor water quality at our nation’s beaches.
Aside from potentially scaring beach-goers with talk of “bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants in beachwater”, the project’s mission seems to be to urge the EPA to do a better job monitoring our beaches. “The Environmental Protection Agency must also set beachwater quality standards protective of human health and provide states with the support they need to monitor beach pollution and notify the public when pollution levels are high.”
An interactive map on the site makes it easy to look at ratings for specific beaches, so we took a look at Ocean Beach (north end), China Beach, and Baker Beach.
None of our neighborhood beaches scored well in the NRDC survey. The star ratings are based on whether the beaches meet these requirements:
- Local officials post advisories without re-sampling
- Closings/advisories posted online and at beach
- Less than 5% of water samples exceeded national standards in 2010, 2011, and 2012
- Less than 5% of water samples exceeded national standards in 2012
- Water quality monitored more than once a week
Our beaches only scored 1 out of 5 stars with the exception of “Baker Beach, Lobos Creek at Lower Parking Lot” which scored a 2.
China Beach did not receive a rating, but the report says that only 2% of water samples from the beach exceed state standards. Ocean Beach is higher at 13%, Baker above that at 19%.
In 2012, both Baker Beach and Ocean Beach had 17 total “notification days” – closings, postings, advisories or warnings. China Beach only had 2.
How often is the water at our local beaches supposed to be monitored? Once per week according to the report cards. Even so, all beaches exceeded that in 2012 with 55 water quality samples reported for China Beach, 60 for Baker Beach, and 70 for Ocean Beach.
Accompanying each beach’s report card on the site is a “TAKE ACTION” button, which directs you to a site where you can send in an email to “Tell the EPA to keep pollution in check and protect our beaches”.
Baker Beach is no stranger to low ratings. In 2011, Heal the Bay listed Backer on its “Beach Bummer” list, which ranked the most polluted shorelines in the state. Lobos Creek empties onto Baker Beach which apparently creates opportunity for bacteria to congregate there. That portion of Baker Beach is on the list for an official cleanup effort, but research and recommendations won’t be completed until 2019.
Sarah B.
[via Ocean Beach Bulletin]