Waters Around the Pier Were Ranked Most Polluted in California
By Zach Armstrong
In a new report by environmental non-profit organization Heal the Bay, water surrounding the Santa Monica Pier was ranked as the most polluted in California while other areas around Santa Monica State Beach got mixed reviews.
“Being a perpetual Beach Bummer was the norm for [Santa Monica Pier] until 2018 when the city installed a stormwater capture system next to the pier. Unfortunately, it appears that Santa Monica Pier’s water quality woes go beyond polluted runoff.” the report read.
Because bird feces could be a large factor for poor water quality, the city is replacing the bird deterrent netting under the pier. It is also installing a trash removal device in the large storm drain at Pico Boulevard, which could reduce bacteria levels. The City also completed a stormwater capture project preventing contaminated water from entering the ocean and increasing water resilience.
But it wasn’t all terrible news for waters surrounding Santa Monica. Santa Monica Beach at Montana Ave got an A+ grade for summer conditions and a B grade for wet conditions (after rainfall) in the report, while Santa Monica Beach at Wilshire Blvd. got an A for summer conditions. The area around Wilshire unfortunately failed under wet conditions.
Coastal counties in California got 50% more rainfall than the decade average during the winter months, while the state saw 19 large storm events from October 2022 to March 2023, far more than the six the state usually gets.
The extreme amounts of precipitation caused landslides, floods, power outages and blizzards. The rainfall had multiple negative impacts on water quality by washing pollutants such as bacteria into the ocean, leading to a decline in Wet Weather Grades
