Sonoma County Beaches Earn A Grades On Beach Report Card

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Sonoma County beaches remained at the top of the class on this year's Beach Report Card, released Tuesday by Heal The Bay.

The nonprofit environmental group rates more than 500 beaches in California for their water quality every year. Sonoma County's beaches have been at the top of the class for a third straight year now, earning 100 percent As for Summer Dry Grades.

• Black Point Beach: A+
• Campbell Cove State Park Beach: A
• Doran Regional Park Beach: A+
• Goat Rock State Park Beach: A+
• Gualala Regional Park Beach: A+
• Salmon Creek State Park Beach: A+
• Stillwater Cove Regional Park Beach: A

The nonprofit factors water quality events, like sewage spills and rainfall, along with routine bacteria pollution sampling, into its grades. Beaches with a C grade or worse are more likely to have bacteria that can make beachgoers sick with the flu, ear infections and other illnesses.

Heal The Bay noted that similar to the other Northern California counties, no Wet Weather Grades were issued this year for Sonoma County. The county does not monitor its beaches in winter months so no Winter Dry Grades were generated and none of its beaches were eligible for the group's statewide Honor Roll.

Sonoma County received 10 inches of rain this year, which is 68 percent lower than the historical average of 31 inches and more characteristic of a Southern California County, the group said. Sonoma County saw the second-largest drop in rainfall behind Mendocino County.

The environmental group noted that a total of 6,970 gallons of sewage was spilled into Sonoma County waterways from two spills. Both occurred in the same area, sending sewage into streams that flow into San Pablo Bay. This was a major improvement over last year when 2.8 million gallons of sewage were spilled into waterways, Heal The Bay said.

Other Bay Area beaches received mostly positive reviews in the report.

Luckily, 93 percent of California beaches in total scored an A or a B for last summer's water quality. In the Bay Area, 53 out of the 60 beaches — 88 percent — received an A or B grade.

The region had a greater representation in the report's "Honor Roll" than in years prior. That is a list of the 35 cleanest beaches across the state with stellar scores in water quality year-round. China Beach and Ocean Beach in San Francisco, along with Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach at Sunset Road in Alameda, were graded A+.

Many other counties in the Bay Area scored great marks. Marin County's 24 beaches received all As.

As for the East Bay, Alameda and Contra Costa counties had 100 percent of its beaches scoring an A or B throughout the year, numbers that are significantly higher than its five-year average. Heal the Bay said this might be due to East Bay receiving 56 percent less rainfall than usual, which means less pollutant runoff into the ocean and cleaner waters.

San Francisco also received great marks for its summer dry season, with 96 percent of the beaches receiving A's or B's. Though it had two of the state's cleanest beaches, Candlestick Point at Windsurfer Circle was the ninth-dirtiest beach in California this year.

But Bay Area beaches also made up four of the 10 worst-rated beaches in California in the report's "Beach Bummer" list. Along with Candlestick Point, three San Mateo County beaches, Erckenbrack Park, Gull Park and Marlin Park, were some of the state's most polluted spots.

San Mateo County beaches have consistently scored low health marks, mostly because their shorelines in Foster City are in the same enclosed space as urban runoff channels, with little circulation to clear out the pollution from the beach. Heal the Bay says it's especially troubling since four of the six beaches that made the list last year weren't monitored this year, without justification.

"Regrettably, the Foster City area and San Mateo County as a whole have been plagued with poor water quality in recent years," the report reads. "Last year, six San Mateo County beaches earned spots on the Beach Bummer list. With four of those unmonitored by the county this year, fewer have made the list but the problem of fecal bacteria pollution remains."

More information about the report and its sampling methods can be found at Healthebay.org.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.