LA Cities Still Violating Bacteria Limits
Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board recently issued notices to Los Angeles County and 20 cities along Santa Monica Bay of bacteria limit violations.
These notices follow from previous board actions on Sept. 14, 2006 and Aug. 9, 2007, when the board established requirements for the county of Los Angeles and the cities within the Santa Monica Bay Watershed to prevent urban runoff with unacceptable levels of bacteria from being discharged into Santa Monica Bay and Marina del Rey Harbor from April through October -- the height of the recreational season.
While the county and the cities within Santa Monica Bay Watershed have taken actions to reduce urban runoff to beaches, monitoring data reveal that urban runoff with excessive levels of bacteria continues to flow into the ocean at many locations along Santa Monica Bay beaches and within Marina del Rey Harbor. This threatens the health of the millions of people that swim in Santa Monica Bay.
The board has ordered the county and cities to identify and take additional actions to abate the source(s) of the excessive levels of bacteria.