Newport waters cleaning up

Deepa Bharath

All local beaches except one made the passing grade last summer,

according to a report released by Heal the Bay Wednesday.

The only beach that was said to have been in poor condition

because of the bacteria pollution was Newport Harbor at 43rd Street.

It was listed with six other “worst” Southern California beaches on

the nonprofit environmental group’s Beach Report Card for the 2002

summer.

The same beach, along with Newport Dunes, made the list last year,

said James Alamillo of Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay.

“The bays usually make the list because the lack of wave or tidal

circulation causes the water to stagnate, increasing bacteria

levels,” he said.

Such waveless beaches are particularly popular among people with

little children, though, Alamillo said.

“Moms and dads should be aware that there are trade-offs

involved,” he said. “They need to be aware that such beaches that may

be appealing because they are waveless, can present problems with

polluted water.”

Newport Dunes escaped the notorious list this year because Dunes

officials have been working with the Orange County Health Care Agency

to clean their beach to prevent stagnation and pollution by using

tidal circulation and other ways of getting the water to circulate.

Generally, there has been less pollution this summer compared to

previous years, Alamillo said.

“The lack of rain has produced no runoff, which is the main

pollutant for beaches,” he said.

The report said that the number of very good to excellent beaches

across California increased by 6% since last summer. This year, a

total of 359 out of 404 locations received an A or B grade -- a

significant increase from the 306 beaches that received A or B grades

last summer. Also, only 45 out of 404 beaches received a fair to poor

rating this summer. That number was down by 59 beaches.

More information and weekly beach reports are available on Heal

the Bay’s Web site, www.healthebay.org.