Bravo on those beach grades

Surf City’s latest beach report card is one that a child would be

willing to bring home, while expecting Mom and Dad to ask the

inevitable “What happened here with the state beach at Magnolia

Street?”

The city and state should be proud of its coastal water grades

here -- lots of A’s, three Bs. There’s just one problem -- a D at

Huntington State Beach at Magnolia Street.

To be fair, Magnolia has pulled that grade up from an F in 2002,

so that’s showing improvement.

A good parent would address the problem, but not dwell on the

negative. Let’s face it, our beaches are pulling in mostly fantastic

water-quality grades. It is the first time in many years that there

hasn’t been a single F on the report card. Let’s just hope that holds

true for the wet season grades, when conditions are usually worse.

This is the 13th year that Santa Monica-based Heal the Bay has

released biannual beach report cards for the coastal waters from

Sonoma County to the Mexican border.

The nonprofit group hands out grades from A to F in the dry and

the rainy seasons. Beaches tend to be more contaminated after

rainstorms, when urban runoff is washed down channels and storm

drains into the ocean, so this report card should be better than its

counterpart.

It should still be recognized and celebrated. City officials have

been trying to promote Huntington Beach as an overnight resort

destination, and these grades prove that it should have at least one

major draw -- clean coastal waters to swim and surf in.

So while we continue to monitor that grade at Magnolia Street and

hope it can be brought up to at least a C next year, Surf City did

exceptionally well overall. Good job to all who play a part -- city

and state workers who clean the beach, residents who take care of

their beach, volunteers who pick up trash and, of course, Mother

Nature.