Water Quality

Recently in my Marine Bio class, we collected water samples from all the different beaches in San Diego County to test the water quality for bacteria coliforms and ecoli coliforms. From our research, we found that almost every beach next to a river outlet, such as San Luis Rey, or Imperial Beach, and Buccaneer beach, contained significantly higher bacterial coliforms including ecoli in the samples than other beaches that were not near run-off river outlets. Carlsbad state beach, had significantly cleaner water quality than Cardiff and Encinitas state campgrounds despite both beaches being state-regulated areas. Through our research, we called into question the regulation of our sewage and runoff in river outlets due to their direct impact on seawater and swimming safety. It is very important that the state continues completing regular water quality tests to make sure the beaches are safe for swimming. In the meantime, if anyone would like to know the water saftey before swimming at their favorite beach, this is a useful website to review the safety of your favorite beach! https://beachreportcard.org/33.91029999999999/-118.51929100000001/11