A leading clean-water watchdog group in California says San Diego County’s beaches are among the cleanest in California, unless it’s raining. Bermuda beach in OB gets a “C” grade.
By Terry Rodgers / UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER / May 21, 2008
When there’s rain, beaches at the mouths of lagoons, rivers and creeks tend to exceed state standards for fecal coliform bacteria. Those are some of the key findings of the 18th annual Beach Report Card, which was published Wednesday by Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica-based environmental group.
“Cities and counties are starting to effectively tackle dry weather beach pollution, but stormwater runoff continues to wreak havoc on coastal water quality during the winter,” the report concludes. The report summarizes beach water quality over the past year for 517 beaches from Humboldt County to San Diego County.
The report card identified 14 San Diego County beaches that experienced pollution problems during wet weather. Five are near the U.S.-Mexico border and five others are beaches in the city of Oceanside.
The beaches and their letter grades include: Border Field State Park at Monument Road (F); Tijuana Slough, mouth of the Tijuana River (F); Tijuana Slough, three-quarters of a mile north of the Tijuana River (F); Imperial Beach, south end of Seacoast Drive (F).
Also on the list are: Silver Strand State Beach near Coronado (C); Tidelands Park at Mullinix Drive in San Diego Bay (F); Ocean Beach at Bermunda Avenue (C);the mouth of Los Penasquitos Lagoon at Torrey Pines State Beach (D); the mouth of the San Dieguito River in Del Mar(D); Oceanside’s Buccaneer Beach at the mouth of Loma Alta Creek, (F); 500 feet north of Loma Alta Creek outlet in Oceanside (C); the beach at Tyson Street in Oceanside (D); the beach at Pier View Way in Oceanside (D); and the mouth of San Luis Rey River in Oceanside (F). [For the original article and a better map, go here to SignOnSanDiego.]
Terry Rodgers: (619) 542-4566; terry.rodgers@uniontrib.com
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