If you're heading 26 miles to Santa Catalina any time soon, you might want to stay out of the water for the time being. The Los Angeles Times has a story about the effort to clean up the "deceptively clear" but "chronically polluted" beaches of Avalon. more ›

A Santa Monica non-profit has been sitting up and begging for an off-leash dog beach for some time, and now they "have been thrown a bone," quips The Santa Monica Daily Press. more ›

Long Beach, a city infamous for its poor beach water quality, has been doing its homework and received gold star AND smiley face stickers on its latest report card. Heal the Bay released its 2011 End of Summer Beach Report Card - a report of beach water quality - on Monday, awarding Long Beach with excellent marks for its "dramatic improvement," per Monday's press release. more ›

Despite its beauty and household name among local beaches, Paradise Cove has been one of the most polluted when it comes to water quality. Last year it received an F. Why? "High levels of fecal indicator bacteria," according to Heal the Bay's annual beach report card (eek!). But this year it jumped to a B, thanks to a... more ›

There is some bittersweet news about L.A.'s local beaches. According to the latest report card from Heal the Bay, things are improving, but beaches in L.A. County continue to exhibit some of the lowest grades in the state. Based on routine monitoring of beaches where "water samples are analyzed for bacteria that indicate pollution from numerous sources, including fecal waste," the annual report card shows that 79% of the 86 beaches in the county earned A or B grades during dry weather. more ›

An earlier post this week on catch basin screen covers generated a lot of interest and some questions from readers in the comment section. The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation was watching, too. Michelle Vargas is a public information officer with the Department of Public Works and wanted to follow up with some information. We've parsed out her response below: more ›

Speaking of LA County's terrible water quality ranking that was announced today, have you seen these along Los Angeles' curbs? These catch basin screen covers prevent litter larger than ¾ of an inch from entering the storm drain system that brings water to the ocean via the LA River and Ballona Creek. Over the past year, they started appearing in the Valley, but they were first installed in other areas that generated the highest amount of trash. more ›

LA County still has worst water quality in state and includes several sites on the top 10 "beach bummer" (i.e., worst beaches in the state) list in this year's Heal the Bay Beach Report Card. This comes as neighboring Orange and Ventura counties earn high grades for good water quality. more ›

When it rains in the Los Angeles area, the yucky stuff (you know, bacteria, debris, trash, and other public health hazards) from city streets and mountain areas enter the ocean via storm drains, creeks and rivers. That means, swimming near them for the next few days can be hazardous for your health. more ›

Just as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminated all the funding--$1 million--for beach water quality monitoring in the state budget, Heal the Bay comes out with their annual Beach Report Card showing a near-record water quality statewide. With over 500 beaches listed, 92% of them earned an A or B, something the group claims is a success of the water quality monitoring program that was just cut. more ›

Eight California cities made it onto the 2008 US City Sustainability Rankings from SustainLane, a media network company based in San Francisco. Of the eight, four made it into the top 25 leaving the other four in the bottom 25. And it's no surprise that the bottom 25 list includes Central and Southern California cities with Northern California cities ranking at the top (full list here): more ›