More coastal healing needed

Orange County Healthy Care Agency officials tell us throughout the

winter to stay high and dry for about 72 hours after a storm. They

couldn’t be more right, according to Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay.

The environmental group released grades last week for all of

Southern California’s beaches. For the most part, Laguna Beach fared

well -- so long as the weather’s dry. Every beach received an A or

A-plus grade. During and after rainfall, however, half the beaches

failed and the rest received Cs and Ds.

Crescent Bay Beach, Victoria Beach, Blue Lagoon, Treasure Island

Pier, El Moro Beach and surprisingly Aliso Creek Beach (north) were

among the highest scoring beaches in the wet season, with Cs.

The lone exception in Laguna Beach was Emerald Bay, which received

an A. Fortunately none of the beaches made the list of “county

bummers” -- beaches with the worst water quality. That list was

headed by Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, deemed to have the worst

water quality in the state.Heal the Bay’s figures have made it

obvious that people should stick to enjoying Laguna’s beaches during

the dry months.

But Laguna officials must continue to work on preventing runoff --

whether from inland cities or Laguna itself -- from entering the

ocean.

Progress has been made, but the data from the wet months shows

that runoff continues to be a problem and there’s no reason to rest

until the locals feel free to stick their toes and surfboards into

the water before the tourists come to town.