How good is water quality at SLO County beaches? These 3 had perfect scores, report says
Most San Luis Obispo County beaches have great water quality year round, according to a recent report by Heal the Bay, a nonprofit organization that compiles water quality data for California beaches into an annual Beach Report Card.
Three local beaches received perfect scores year round and during the wet season, the report says.
Pismo State Beach, Morro Bay City Beach and South Palisades Park beach at Shoals Drive each received A-plus grades year round. Those beaches also received the top marks during the wet period, when most beaches’ scores dip due to polluted storm runoff that causes the beach water quality to drop.
The three beaches made it onto Heal the Bay’s Honor Roll list alongside 32 other beaches across California’s coast. That’s out of 500 monitored beaches in the whole state.
Two San Luis Obispo County beaches received low grades on water quality during the wet periods: Cayucos State Beach down the coast from the Cayucos pier and Hearst Memorial State Beach west of San Simeon Pier.
Heal the Bay gave those two beaches a C grade and D grade, respectively, during wet periods. This means that the water quality decreased when storm drain runoff increased.
All San Luis Obispo County beaches received A grades or higher for water quality from April through October, the most popular months for beach tourism.
All but one San Luis Obispo County beaches received the tops marks for water quality during the winter months, November through March.
Olde Port Beach along Avila Beach Drive near the Cal Poly Pier received a B grade for water quality during the winter months, according to Heal the Bay’s report.
Here’s a table of how each San Luis Obispo County beach scored on Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card.
This story was originally published July 5, 2021 at 11:10 AM.
