Visitors to most Los Angeles County beaches can rest assured that the ocean water does not host harmful levels of bacteria, according to a new report Wednesday.
Heal the Bay, an environmental nonprofit, said in its 34th annual beach report card that nearly 90% of beaches on the West Coast are safe for swimming even during the hot months when more people are in the water.
The report card, which is based on data from 2023, gives A to F grades for beaches from Canada to Mexico, in total covering 648 beaches.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
However, despite an overall positive result, two LA County beaches failed Heal the Bay’s grading system: Santa Monica Pier and Mother’s Beach in Marina del Rey.
“The same thing that makes Mother’s Beach such an excellent place to swim and to bring your kids — the fact that it’s really calm — is the same reason that we see exceedances of harmful bacteria,” Tracy Quinn, President and CEO of Heal the Bay said. “That water is pretty stagnant.”
As for Santa Monica Pier, Quinn said that the City of Santa Monica has adequately invested in stormwater capture. Heal the Bay is still working with the city to investigate its source of excess bacteria.
“Whether it’s the birds that you see on our beach that are nesting under and causing those bacterial exceedances or whether that’s stormwater, we still don’t know,” Quinn said.
Heal the Bay recommends that residents avoid swimming within 100 yards of any river outlet or storm drain along the coast, including Santa Monica Pier.
