Coastal waters get good grades

Newport Beach rates high for low bacteria counts.For beachgoers, this past summer in Newport Beach may be remembered as a season of red tides and cold surf, but according to a survey released Wednesday, surfers and swimmers can take heart that they were not sharing the waves with legions of germs.

For the most part, Newport’s grades on the 2005 California Summer Beach Report Card look like an aquatic honor roll. The report is released by Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica-based water-quality organization

From the Santa Ana River mouth, around Newport Harbor, along Corona del Mar and down to Crystal Cove, Heal the Bay awarded local beaches a slew of A and A+ grades. The only local beach not to receive at least an A grade was Harbor Patrol Beach, which received a C rating.

“The number of A’s is frightening. Frighteningly good,” Heal the Bay report card program manager James Alamillo said

The grades were awarded according to a system that used bacteria counts taken between Memorial Day and Sept. 30. The letter grades are intended to give beachgoers a general impression of water quality over time, Alamillo said.

The new survey shows improvements over a report that Heal the Bay published in May. That report, which covered the time between April 2004 and March, gave failing grades to Harbor Patrol, 38th Street and 43rd Street beaches, when water was tested on rainy days.

Alamillo said he and his colleagues at Heal the Bay do not know why local beaches showed healthier bacteria levels this summer, and they are waiting to see if recent months were a pleasant fluke or a sign of long-term improvement.

“Am I ecstatic? I’ll probably get ecstatic if next year we’re seeing this trend,” Alamillo said.

Possible explanations for improved water quality include 2002 regulations that require municipalities to reduce sewer spills, said Kurt Berchtold, spokesman for the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Newport Beach and the Costa Mesa Sanitary District have addressed those regulations with measures involving sewer fees and requirements for restaurants to install grease interceptors. Beyond those efforts, Berchtold credited Newport Beach officials for working to reduce urban runoff, the wastewater that flows from cities to the ocean.

Newport’s efforts include hiring code enforcement officers who watch out for potential runoff-related problems that can occur when people hose off their driveways or neglect to clean up after pets, said Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff. The city also uses screens to prevent trash from flowing into storm drains and becoming a breeding ground for germs.

“I’m crossing my fingers that things the city and residents have been doing are helping,” Kiff said.

Though Heal the Bay gave Newport waters high marks, the Orange County Health Care Agency does not consider local waters to be perfect. Bacteria-related health warnings were posted for Lido Isle Yacht Club Beach and 10th Street Beach on Tuesday. Another posting for waters near Lancaster Street near Newport Slough in West Newport was made Oct. 6.

Long-term bacteria warnings are in effect for 43rd Street Beach, the 33rd Street Channel and the waters near the Arches Bridge. The county has considered 43rd Street Beach to be in bad shape since 1999, but Kiff said Wednesday that he is hopeful that posting could be removed in the near future.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. Reach him at (714) 966-4624 or andrew.edwards@latimes.com.