Most Orange County beaches received high marks for water quality based on a study released today by environmental group Heal the Bay, but seven local beaches showed a fair-to-poor grade.
Repeat offender Doheny State Beach again showed up on the list as one of the state’s top “Beach Bummers,” stretches of beach most frequently showing high bacteria counts.  In third place and ranked higher on the bummer list than Doheny was Poche beach in San Clemente. 
All of the fair-to-poor grades were for beaches at Doheny or in  the Dana Point Harbor, except for Huntington State Beach at Magnolia Street and Poche Beach in San Clemente.
It’s the 18th year that the Santa Monica-based group has done the report, which looks at beaches all along the California coastline. Little rainfall this year is being credited for the better water quality, with less urban runoff coming downstream or through storm drains.
Overall, California had its best dry-weather beach water quality on record in this report, which spanned from 2007 through earlier this year.
Doheny – which sits directly south of the Dana Point harbor – is a known surf spot where longboarders enjoy smooth and small surf. The air can have a hint of bird poop on days when dozens of sea gulls gather on the water’s surface. 

“We all have a concern. For the most part, many of us don’t go in the water after it rains,” said Doheny surfer David Olive. “It’s our playground.”
Although Olive has surfed the area for years, he said he has never been sick after surfing at Doheny. But he has seen a lot of trash and stagnant bird poop in the water.

“I’ve seen syringes wash up at Doheny. Literally. It’s stuff that’s washing down the river, or the creek, or both,” he said. “And then it washes up when the swell hits. It’s bad.”
Heal the Bay, in conjunction with UC Berkeley, will be continuing an epidemiology study of Doheny State Beach starting this weekend. The study will do surveys of thousands of beachgoers, then follow up 14 days later to see if they experienced any sickness or stomach issues. At the same time, water samples will be taken three times a day to test bacteria, to see if any correlation exists, said Polly Barrowman, beach water quality scientist for Heal the Bay.
Heal the Bay gave letter grades (from A through F) to 517 beaches in California for the report. During the busy summer season, about 93 percent of the beaches got a grade of B or higher during dry-weather conditions, meaning they had very good to excellent water quality, according to the study.
Los Angeles continues to be the worst county for beach quality. Santa Barbara and Ventura counties were ranked the best when it comes to water quality, with all beaches getting top grades.
The Orange County Health Agency warns swimmers and surfers to stay out of the water for about three-days after it rains, especially in areas close to storm drains.
The study also showed that the number of OC beach closures due to sewage spills decreased both in number and volume. Of the 12 total sewage spills during the report period, the only spill of “significant size” happened at Aliso Creek in July, which left the beach closed for several days. 

Also see this blog by Sciencedude, which showed a steep drop in local water pollution based on a study that looked at mussels.

The Top 10 Beach Bummers –Twenty four beaches statewide received an “F” grade in dry weather during the 2006-2007 Beach Report Card. The 10 worst “Beach Bummers” in California (starting with the worst) are:

1. Avalon Harbor Beach on Catalina Island (Los Angeles County)
2. Santa Monica Municipal Pier (Los Angeles County)
3. Poche Beach (Orange County)
4. North Beach Doheny (Orange County)
5. Marie Canyon Drain at Puerco Beach (Los Angeles County)
6. Cabrillo Beach harborside (Los Angeles County)
7. City of Long Beach — multiple locations (Los Angeles County)
8. Campbell Cove State Park Beach (Sonoma County)
9. Clam Beach County Park near Strawberry Creek (Humboldt County)
10. Pismo Beach Pier (San Luis Obispo County)
 

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