What Are the Dirtiest Beaches in California?

Slather up with sunscreen. Grab some flip-flops, towels and maybe a book. And make sure to check your beach’s water quality.

Heal the Bay, a nonprofit group based in Santa Monica, released its 33rd annual Beach Report Card yesterday, with information about how safe California’s beaches are for swimming. Taking a dip in polluted water makes you more likely to develop stomach illnesses, ear infections, rashes and more.

According to the report, 95 percent of California’s beaches logged clean water-quality scores between April and October 2022, the months when we’re most likely to swim in the ocean. That’s on par with the annual average. Only 23 of the more than 400 beaches in the state had worrisome levels of pollution during those warmer months, the report found.

“Across the West Coast, we are fortunate to have beaches that are beautiful and clean most days of the year, but unfortunately there are times and conditions when the water at the beach makes folks sick,” Tracy Quinn, the Heal the Bay chief executive, said in a news conference yesterday.

You can find the 2022 score for your favorite beach in the report, and check the latest water-quality readings with Heal the Bay’s weekly beach grades.

The report noted some bad news. During wet weather, water quality tends to drop precipitously, as rain flushes trash, chemicals and fecal matter into the ocean. (This is why you shouldn’t swim in the ocean for at least 72 hours after a storm.) And as you’re well aware, we had a lot of wet weather this year.

So when experts at Heal the Bay looked at water quality year-round, instead of just for the warmer months, only two California beaches — Point Loma Lighthouse in San Diego County and Bean Hollow State Beach in San Mateo County — met the highest clean-water standards for all seasons and weather conditions in 2022. The year before, 51 beaches qualified for that rating.

One major factor in the decline was large sewage spills. In places where storm runoff goes into the sanitary sewer system, heavy rainfall can flood sewage lines and cause them to overflow. In the 12-month period from April 2022 to March 2023, some 45 million gallons of sewage spilled into the ocean or coastal waterways in California, Heal the Bay reported. The figure for the previous year was 29 million gallons, which was already considered an alarming amount.

“So we’ve had these two years of really high amounts of sewage spilled, and lots of that is aging infrastructure and a need to upgrade,” Katherine Pease, Heal the Bay’s director of science and policy, told me.

These were the dirtiest beaches in California in 2022:

1. Santa Monica Pier (Los Angeles County)

2. Linda Mar Beach (San Mateo County)

3. Marlin Park (San Mateo County)

4. Erckenbrack Park (San Mateo County)

5. Tijuana River Mouth (San Diego County)

6. Pillar Point Harbor at Capistrano Avenue (San Mateo County)

7. Marina del Rey Mother’s Beach (Los Angeles County)

8. Poche Beach (Orange County)

9. Gull Park (San Mateo County)

Where we’re traveling

Today’s tip comes from Perry Moore, who recommends Trione-Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa:

“Trione-Annadel State Park is one of the best mountain biking-hiking areas. Adjacent to Spring Lake Park, known for its beach swimming areas, Trione-Annadel State Park has some difficult biking trails that are well known nationally and a large swimming area to cool off in. Most people park in Spring Lake and hike into the adjacent state park, making for a good two- to three-hour event.”

Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to [email protected]. We’ll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

Tell us

We’re almost halfway through 2023! What are the best things that have happened to you so far this year? What have been your wins? Or your unexpected joys, big or small?

Tell me at [email protected]. Please include your full name and the city where you live.

And before you go, some good news

Two baby red-ruffed lemurs are the first to be born at the Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose since 2009, The Mercury News reports.

Red-ruffed lemurs are considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and are found only in a small part of Madagascar — and now in San Jose.

The zoo plans to hold a contest this summer to let the public vote on names for the pups.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Soumya

P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword.

Briana Scalia and Johnna Margalotti contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].

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