EDITORIAL:Good news for beaches

The Heal the Bay conservation group had some good news for us in its annual Beach Report Card on coastal water quality.

Huntington Beach, like its counterparts elsewhere in Orange County, racked up good grades in the report and avoided the dreaded “Beach Bummers” list of the 10 worst beaches in California. Seven of those were in Los Angeles County.

Most of the city’s beaches nearly scored straight A’s. This is great news, because it means when you swim in the ocean or hit the surf, you can do so with a great deal more confidence. No one wants to get sick from the bacteria after a nice summer afternoon in the ocean.

But it’s not all good news.

Conservationists chalked up some of the good conditions to the drought, and Huntington State Beach at Brookhurst Avenue received mostly C’s. Huntington State Beach is much improved these days, compared to about 10 years ago when high bacteria levels shut it down for months at a time.

The experts aren’t really sure why the bacteria levels are still high.

It’s good to know conditions are improving, but we must make sure our public officials stay committed to keeping our beaches clean.