Bad beaches
LA County puts 7 beaches on notice due to high bacterial levels.
Hello Financial Healers,
According to the County of Los Angeles Public Health, 7 popular beaches are considered unsafe for swimming:
Ramirez Creek at Paradise Cove
Escondido Creek at Escondido State Beach
Malibu Pier in Malibu
Las Flores Creek at Las Flores State Beach
The Bel Air Bay Club at Will Rogers State Beach
Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica
Mothers Beach in Marina Del Rey
If you’re visiting any of these beaches, don’t touch the water. Tests are conducted daily, but it could be awhile before these areas return to normal.
Why is the water so dirty?
Here are 2 main reasons for SoCal’s downgrade in beach cleanliness:
1. Urban Runoff
LA County has seen a surge in rainfall in 2023. While this is good for vegetation, LA County’s urban design makes runoff a problem for water safety.
The LA Times writes, “Imagine Los Angeles County, framed by its iconic foothills and snow-capped mountains, as a giant bowl titled toward the sea. Whenever it rains, water rushes off rooftops and down streets and sidewalks — picking up any trash, pesticides, dog poop, and car tire residue in its way… this mix of rainwater and debris flushes straight into the ocean through a network of storm drains and concrete-lined rivers. Urban runoff, in fact, is L.A. County’s greatest source of water pollution.”
In a perfect world, we’d implement new policies and city planning to address this issue. But given how dysfunctional California’s leadership is, don’t hold your breath.
2. Sewage spills
Another factor in the ocean’s pollution is the increase of sewage leaks. Since 2021, there have been a rise in spills, including one where 17m gallons of waste spilled into Santa Monica Bay.
Documenting 2023, MSN writes, “… on June 6, health officials announced that 50,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the LA River, causing seven miles of beaches in Long Beach to shut down. Two days later, County officials shut down Malibu Lagoon State Beach after a 5,000 to 6,000 spill. The three spills totaled more than 85,000 gallons… that spilled in county waterways in less than one week. In the last nine months, there have been a total of seven sewage spills in LA County.”
I’m no sanitation expert, but that sounds like a lot of waste. I’ll ask again: 👇
Do your research
If you’re planning a trip to the beach, stay up to date on health information. Follow LA County Public Health’s Twitter account for daily reports. And for goodness sakes, stay safe.
Just keep swimming,
Cory De Silva
About: Cory is a screenwriter based in Pasadena. When he's not writing, he's helping families get out of debt, so they can pursue their dreams full-time and not be beholden to the banks or federal government. You can reach Cory at cory.dustin.desilva@gmail.com