Southern California beaches: unsafe for swimming, surfing, and playing

Southern California beaches may not be safe for swimming, surfing or playing in coastal waters this Memorial Day weekend, according to the LA County Public Health announcement that went out this week. 

The water along several popular beaches tested positive for high levels of bacteria, indicating fecal matter in the water, which could make people sick.

Affected beaches include:

· East Temescal Canyon Storm Drain at Will Rogers State Beach

· Topanga Canyon Beach in Malibu

· Pico-Kenter storm drain at Santa Monica State Beach.

· Mothers Beach in Marina Del Rey

· Malibu Lagoon at Surfrider Beach

· Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica

· Inner Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro

Swimming in waters like this can lead to sickness including eye infections, vomiting and diarrhea.

Sources of the pollution comes from leaking sewage systems and large polluters not filtering out pollution during stormy weather.

Environment California just sent a notice to the Port of LA that we intend to sue it for serious repeat violations to the Clean Water Act, with high levels of fecal matter and heavy metals discharged into coastal waters. These discharges can wash up on the shores of nearby Inner Cabrillo beach, which was one of the most polluted beaches in our 2023 ‘Safe for Swimming’ report, with 44% of unsafe days.