Orange County’s first rain in months managed to breach the sand berm at Doheny State Beach on Wednesday, allowing runoff from San Juan Creek to flow into the ocean and prompting a precautionary posting of warning signs.

The breach of the berm, which keeps the creek mouth closed during dry months, is a normal event, said Jim Serpa, the supervising park ranger at Doheny.

“It stays closed, unless there’s a freak summer storm, till around this time of year,” Serpa said.

It was likely last open in April, he said.

The lack of rainfall was credited with keeping Doheny State Beach and other Orange County beaches clean during the summer in a water-quality report last month from the environmental group, Heal the Bay.

Less than a half inch of rain fell in southern Orange County on Wednesday, but the accumulated runoff in the creek was enough to break the berm.

Because runoff from the creek is often burdened with contaminants, bacterial warning signs were posted at the creek mouth as a precaution, Serpa said.

The Orange County Health Care Agency also issued its standard warning Wednesday: After storms, bacterial levels in the near-shore ocean can rise, especially near creek mouths, storm drains, rivers and bays, and can remain high for at least three days.

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Report: O.C. beaches at their cleanest in six years

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