Long Beach Suffers Dramatic Drop in Water Quality

All of the nasty stuff in the Lakewood gutters goes right into the San Gabriel River and then into Long Beach. Now they have the dirtiest water around. Again this is what happens when you don't sweep the streets weekly!

Heal the Bay's 17th Annual California Beach Report Card™ for 2006-2007

Long Beach Suffers Dramatic Drop in Water Quality

In Los Angeles County, the Long Beach area suffered a dramatic drop in water quality during the last year. Long Beach saw 24 of 28 reporting locations register a “C,” “D” or “F,” a dramatic change for a city that has a history of good water quality. As a result, the city of Long Beach has the dubious distinction of being ranked as the #1 “Beach Bummer” in this year’s report (see sidebar at right).

Long Beach has traditionally fared well in the Beach Report Card despite the fact its beaches are completely enclosed by a breakwater. Typically, beaches located inside a breakwall are more prone to poor water quality than open ocean beaches, but this has not been an issue for Long Beach except at Colorado Lagoon.

Heal the Bay plans to work quickly with officials in Long Beach to get to the bottom of the dramatic change in their water quality, and begin making recommendations for improvements immediately.