Celebrating the 10th Summer of AB411
With the completion of this year’s End of Summer Beach Report Card, Heal the Bay draws attention to the 10th anniversary of the implementation of California Assembly Bill 411. In the fall of 1997, California took huge steps forward in protecting public health by adopting AB411, a bill designed to create minimum bacteria standards and monitoring requirements for ocean water quality at public beaches in California. The bill went into effect two years later, and beginning on April 1, 1999, all frequently visited beaches in California were required to be monitored on at least a weekly basis during the summer months (April 1 – Oct. 31). California has been operating under AB411 for 10 summers and Heal the Bay is proud to say that as co-authors of the bill, we have seen extensive water quality improvement during the summer months.
Under AB411’s monitoring requirements, organizations like Heal the Bay, the State Water Resources Control Board and local health agencies were able to keep track of beaches that frequently exceeded beach water quality standards. This public watchdog effort brought attention to the well-publicized beach closures in Huntington Beach during the summer of 1999. For two months, large sections of Huntington Beach were closed due to excessive levels of indicator bacteria in the water. This led the Executive Officer of the state water board to direct Orange County to investigate, identify, and remediate the sources of microbial contamination. The following year, Gov. Gray Davis proposed $34 million in the state budget for protecting and restoring the health of California’s beaches. This funding became known as the Clean Beach Initiative (CBI). The fund finances research on rapid pathogen indicators and pathogen source identification efforts in addition to projects to improve water quality at polluted beaches. Huntington Beach became one of the first recipients of this money, using the funds to divert runoff away from the beach and ensure no repetitions of poor summer water quality.
California beaches have progressed substantially since the implementation of the CBI. Dozens of projects have been completed or are on their way to completion, and millions of dollars more in funding (a total of over $100 million) have been appropriated to ensure that these vital projects can continue.
In Los Angeles County alone, over 22 low-flow diversions have been installed within 10 years, contributing to the 91% of A and B grades that were achieved within the state this summer. A number of counties even achieved 100% A and B grades this summer. Since 1999, changes in beach grading methodology, sample location sites and the huge increase in monitoring locations have all helped ensure greater health protection for beach goers.
Unfortunately, California’s current budget crisis has resulted in drastic funding cuts to AB 411 implementation programs. Among Governor Schwarzenegger’s line item vetoes in the approved budget is a complete elimination of state beach water quality monitoring funds for local entities. The results of such a severe cut are that coastal counties will likely have to completely eliminate or radically reduce their ocean water quality monitoring programs, unless local governments take on the slack created by the cut. Beaches that have improved significantly over the last ten years will no longer benefit from routine monitoring, and public health may once again be jeopardized by polluted beaches that public health officials are no longer able to track and remediate. Heal the Bay is hopeful that local governments will continue to prioritize monitoring and fight to ensure that funds will be reinstated in the next budget cycle.
End of Summer Beach Report Card™ 2008
Heal the Bay’s tenth annual California End of Summer Beach Report Card™ coincides with the tenth anniversary of the implementation of AB411. The report provides beachgoers with essential water quality information by grading nearly 500 monitoring locations from Humboldt County through San Diego County. The grades are based on dry weather water quality data provided by over 20 different entities throughout California. The data presented in this report was collected from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2008. This report is intended to give an overview of California’s beach water quality during the summer of 2008.
The Beach Report Card is based on the routine monitoring of beaches conducted by local health agencies and dischargers. Water samples are analyzed for bacteria that indicate pollution from numerous sources, including fecal waste. The better the grade a beach receives, the lower the risk of illness to ocean users. The report is not designed to measure the amount of trash or toxins found at beaches. The Beach Report Card would not be possible without the cooperation of all of the shoreline monitoring agencies in the state.
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