Even as Heal the Bay released an upbeat report card on the state’s ocean-water quality, the clean-water group raised worries about uncertain funding for continued beach monitoring.

After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed nearly $1 million in funding for beach water sampling in September, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura cut back sampling until more funding could be found, the group’s report says.

And while state officials have since come up with enough money to get the counties through July 2010, any further loss of funding would force Orange County to consider cutting back testing here.

“If at some point we can’t get funding, policy decisions have to be made by the agency to determine what kind of reductions, if any, to do in terms of monitoring,” said Larry Honeybourne of the Orange County Health Care Agency.

Reduction or elimination of ocean-water testing would be a “public health problem,” said Mike Grimmer, a data analyst for Heal the Bay and an author of the group’s most recent report.

“The beaches would be unmonitored; we wouldn’t necessarily know if beaches had exceedences for bacteria,” he said.

The economic downturn makes ocean-water testing especially important, he said.

“A polluted beach is still free,” he said. “More people will be at the beach this summer to escape from the serious issues the state’s facing. It’s more important in times of financial trouble for state beaches to remain safe for the public.”

The State Water Board found enough Prop. 13 bond money, used for water quality improvement, to keep the counties funded for another year and a half; the funds, totaling $984,000, will be administered through the state Department of Public Health.

Although the report generally found improved water quality up and down the state — 85 percent received “A” or “B” grades — it noted that Los Angeles County had most of the lowest grades in the state, with just 70 percent “A” and “B” grades.

(Register file photo of surfers at Huntington Beach by Chas Metivier.)

Related post:

• Report: OC beaches at their cleanest in six years

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