By Charles M. Kelly
Avalon’s beaches received marks — three A grades and one A plus — for dry weather summer water quality, according to the recently released Heal the Bay Beach Report Card.
The column for the winter dry weather grade was left blank for all Avalon locations.
The one bad mark — an F — was for wet weather at Avalon Beach, east of the Casino Arch at the steps. The same location recived the A plus grade for dry summer weather water quality.
“The past year saw lower than average rainfall, which led to an improvement in wet weather water quality grades,” according to the report card.
“Less rain means fewer pollutants such as bacteria were washed into the ocean, which resulted in higher grades,” according to the report card.
“Grades are based on routine water quality sampling conducted by county health agencies, state agencies, tribal agencies, sanitation departments and dischargers on the West Coast,” according to the report card.
Avalon Beach, 100 feet west of the Green Pleasure Pier, 50 feet east of the Green Pleasure Pier and 50 feet west of the Green Pleasure Pier all received A grades for dry summer weather water quality and A plus grades for wet weather water quality.
“Doheny State Beach (Orange County) and Avalon Beach (Los Angeles County) in Catalina have shown significant positive improvement in grades over time. Avalon Beach has had many water quality improvement projects over the years, including sewer line maintenance, bird abatement and a strict stormwater ordinance for businesses,” said the report card.
This was good news for Avalon, which made the “beach bummer” list from 2008-09 to 2012-13.
