The Times-Standard
Posted: 05/26/2011 05:16:14 AM PDT
Humboldt County's beaches again scored well on the Heal the Bay's Beach Report Card 2010-2011 report.
Six local locations were sampled for bacteria in the mixing zone on a weekly basis from April through October. The quality was rated as excellent in the annual report, and all of Humboldt County's beaches scored an “A.”
According to the nonprofit Heal the Bay report, the Beach Report Card is the only comprehensive analysis of coastline water quality on the West Coast. Every week, more than 500 beaches are graded based on bacteria analysis, including 445 in California.
The Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services tests water quality at the Mad River mouth north, Clam Beach near Strawberry Creek, Moonstone Beach near Little River, Luffenholtz Beach near Luffenholtz Creek, Trinidad State Beach near Mill Creek and Old Home Beach near Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse, according to the department website at www.co.humboldt.ca.us/health/envhealth/beachinfo
Heal the Bay's report states this was the first year since Humboldt County's inclusion that it did not test year-round and only participated in the state-mandated testing period. The monitoring program is funded through the Environmental Protection Agency's National BEACH Program.
