By Andrea Papagianis
Summer Solstice is around the corner which means the environmental nonprofit Heal the Bay’s annual “Beach Bummer List” and report card is out just in time for warmer temperatures.
For the first time in six years, Dana Point’s Poche Beach, with historically poor water quality, hasn’t appeared on the list. Also of note, no beaches in Orange County made the list, which saw Doheny State Beach in the Top 10 Beach Bummers in 2011, 2012 and 2013 alongside Poche.
The watchdog group monitors more than 600 beaches statewide, and utilizing weekly bacteria levels reported by area health departments, awards each beach a letter grade. Poche’s grades have been on the rise in recent months due to efforts by the county and city of San Clemente to clean up its act.
“We have been very committed to discovering why certain beaches had poor water quality and took some very creative steps to fix the problem,” said county Supervisor Pat Bates.
The county installed ultrasound speakers to deter birds from gathering on the beach and implored a falconer and used plastic coyote decoys to scare seagulls away.
For the most part, Dana Point’s beaches received positive grades, but year-round wet conditions produced sub-par ratings at Doheny.
Read the full Report Card here:
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