Long Beach Earns Top Dry Season Water Quality Marks in 2024-2025 Heal the Bay Report

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PRESS RELEASE

Long Beach, CA - The City of Long Beach has earned high marks for recreational water quality grades from the Heal the Bay Report for 2024-2025, with 100% of its monitored beaches receiving A or B grades for the dry summer months and winter dry period. These ratings, released on Sept. 3, 2025, highlight Long Beach's continued progress in enhancing coast water quality.

"As Long Beach prepares to welcome the world in 2028, these strong dry season grades demonstrate clear and consistent progress in protecting coastal water quality and ensuring our beaches are safe and welcoming for all," said Mayor Rex Richardson. "We remain committed to continuing this progress through regional collaboration and by advocating for upstream solutions and resources that further address water quality challenges affecting Long Beach."

Water quality from City beaches received 11 A grades and four Bs for the dry summer season (April through October), with all Alamitos Bay beaches receiving A grades and one receiving an A+ grade. Beach water quality during the winter dry periods also scored highly, with all of them receiving A grades. For the fifth consecutive year, no Long Beach beaches were listed as Beach Bummers. Now in its 35th year, the Heal the Bay Annual Beach Report Card assigns water quality grades based on bacteria levels that indicate potential pollution. These grades help residents and visitors understand health risks associated with recreational ocean use. The full 2024-2025 report is available here.

Long Beach is home to over six miles of public beaches along coastal water and bays, typically attracting thousands of residents and visitors throughout the year. To protect the safety of the public, the City operates one of the most robust beach water monitoring programs in California. The Health Department's Environmental Health Recreational Water Quality Program collects water samples three times per week across City beaches and tests them for bacterial levels.

"Consistent monitoring remains essential to protecting public health," said Health Department Director Alison King. "These grades help us better understand conditions at our beaches and guide our response to potential risks. We will continue using this data to inform our work and engage with regional partners on solutions."

Beyond monitoring, the City takes a coordinated, interdepartmental approach to improving recreational water quality and maintaining a clean and welcoming shoreline. The Public Works Department implements stormwater projects that capture polluted urban runoff upstream of City waterways and beaches, monitor waterways, conducts regular street sweeping, and operates and maintains infrastructure designed to reduce debris and pollutants from entering local waterways. The Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine maintains beach accessibility and cleanliness using specialized equipment to clean sand along the shoreline. Each year, crews remove an estimated 2,000 tons of debris, much of it carried by the Los Angeles River, and respond quickly after storms.

While dry weather grades are consistently strong, wet weather runoff remains a challenge, which is reflected in the City's grades for this wet weather season. Heal the Bay's report points to regional water quality challenges, including runoff from heavy rain, wildfires, outdated sewage and stormwater systems and other pollution sources. It also highlights the need for upstream solutions and improved climate resilience. With support from the City's Marine Advisory Commission, the City is working to advocate for upstream prevention policies and infrastructure to limit debris flow to the coastline and continues to advocate for additional state funding to be allocated to impacted communities such as Long Beach.

Current information on water quality in Long Beach is available on the Environmental Health Bureau webpage. More information about Heal the Bay is available on their website at healthebay.org.

About the City of Long Beach
Long Beach is nestled along the Southern California coast and home to approximately 466,000 people. As an award-winning full-service charter city, Long Beach offers the amenities of a metropolitan city while maintaining a strong sense of individual and diverse neighborhoods, culture, and community. With a bustling downtown and over six miles of scenic beaches, Long Beach is a renowned tourist and business destination and home to the iconic Queen Mary, nationally recognized Aquarium of the Pacific and Long Beach Airport, the award-winning Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center and world-class Port of Long Beach.

For more information about the City of Long Beach, visit longbeach.gov/. Follow us on social to keep up with the latest news: Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube. More information about the Long Beach Health Department is available at longbeach.gov/health and on Instagram, Facebook and X.

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