California sea water improves, shows study

LOS ANGELES, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Waters off California's coast are cleaner and safer for swimmers and surfers in dry weather than they have been in years, according to an environmental report.

Drier-than-average weather helped keep most ocean waters cleaner, but in rainy conditions more than half of Southern California beaches tested fair to poor for traces of fecal bacteria, said the report published by the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.

Although water quality is improving overall statewide, Los Angeles County is home to the most bacteria-laden seawater in California for the third straight year, the report said.

Half of the 10 foulest shorelines in the state are in Los Angeles County, with the dirtiest water at Avalon Harbor Beach on Santa Catalina Island .

"For storm water pollution, we're not doing a good job at all," said Mark Gold, president of the Santa Monica-based nonprofit group Heal the Bay, which compiles the report. "The beaches are just as polluted today during rainstorms as they were 15 years ago."

"It's not surprising -- it's just frustrating," Gold said. "We've had so much progress in so many other, different areas of coastal protection, [yet] our beaches still look like landfills after every rain."

Heal the Bay's annual beach report card tests more than 500 locations on the California coast for daily and weekly fecal bacteria pollution levels.

Letter grades from A to F indicate the risk of health effects such as stomach flu, ear infections and rashes from swimming in contaminated water.

This year, 87 percent of beaches statewide and in the Southern California received A or B grades during dry weather; only 71 percent of beaches in Los Angeles County alone scored that high.