> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # State of Bay just OK - URL: https://www.smdp.com/state-of-bay-just-ok/ - Published: 2005-01-19T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T06:01:23.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import *What lies beneath isn’t all that healthy* *By CORTNEY FIELDING Special to the Daily Press* The overall health of Santa Monica Bay may not have improved as much as officials and environmentalists would like, but some areas are on the upswing. That was the general consensus among the approximately 300 attendees at the “State of the Bay Conference,” held by the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission (SMBRC) at the Skirball Center last week. Envir onmental officials from around the state were invited to take part in the one-day event, which highlighted improvements made in the bay’s restoration over the past five years, as well as hurdles yet to be cleared. Bacteria levels in the 266 square miles of bay during the dry summer months are steadily declining, according to Mark Gold, executive director of Heal the Bay, a non-profit org an ization involved in water safety and cleanliness issues in Southern California. The decline is partly due to a number of local projects that have created dry weather run-off diversions, which keep polluted run-off out of the open water. “The news is fairly good during the summer,” said Dr. Guang-yu Wang, executive director of SMBRC. The water “is fairly clean.” Wintertime, on the other hand, can be a different story. According to Gold, large amounts of polluted storm water runoff associated with wet winter months are still wreaking havoc in the bay. “There’s really been no measurable improvement in the last 15 years,” he said. The bay’s bacteria levels tend to increase drastically over the winter rainy season, as trash and pollution from the streets are washed into storm drains and, eventually, into the open water. D3D, Storm drain run-off during the winter has posed a big obstacle to the commission, as Wang thinks wet weather pollution poses the biggest challenge to keeping the bay safe. Officials say other ways to curtail the problem is to build more run-off diversions and create public education programs aimed at demonstrating how polluted streets can affect water quality. Engineering resources such as trash-capturing devices, which collect the garbage in storm drains before it can run off into the bay, are another solution Wang said is being tried in many cities. But because of the size of Los Angeles, that alone would not rectify the problem. “We have miles of storm drains,” he said. “There really are no simple solutions.” Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss, also the SMBRC chair, said the commission really needs the support and involvement of the public in order to secure the money needed to make any real progress in the water quality. “People need to make their local governments accountable and demand the money,” he said. While the public is generally unaware of the problems the storm run-off causes, Weiss hopes the recent storms and pollution they caused will awaken the public towards the need for improvements. “It’s interesting we held the conference right after the storms,” he said. Gold was in agreement. “If last month doesn’t demonstrate that, what will?” he said. Weiss said the biggest lesson the SMBRC has learned is that public support makes a world of difference when it’s time to get things done. “When the public gets behind cleaning up and improvement, it gets results,” he said. “And in the areas we don’t see investment, like storm run-off, we don’t.” The biggest example of success through public support is in sewage improvements, he said, pointing to the major upgrades of the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts Sewage facility in Carson in 2003, as well as the Hyperion sewage plant upgrade in 1998. Wang said sewage improvements over the years have resulted in a 98-percent decrease of total metals in the water and a 93-percent decrease in solid waste since 1971. He also pointed to a reduction in sewage spills in the city of Los Angeles over the last decade as another positive sign. The exorbitant amount of rain Los Angeles received in the last month did not result in any spills, something that likely would have occurred in years past. The SMBRC was not directly responsible for the improvements, but according to Gold, “it was a high priority of the commission’s,” and everyone involved in the upgrades were stakeholders in the state’s water quality. Gold is optimistic for continued improvements in all areas of water quality in the coming years. He said the commission’s ultimate goal is to achieve a 0-percent beach closure rate along the Santa Monica Bay. But for that to happen, Weiss said the public also will have to make clean water a major priority. “I want people to take ownership of the bay,” he said. State of the Bay was established by the state of California and the Environmental Protection Agency in 1988 as a National Estuary program to oversee restoration. It won state and federal approval in 1995. The last State of the Bay conference was held in 1998, and another is tentatively scheduled for 2010. “There’s reason to be optimistic is some ways,” said Gold, “but in others we have barely scratched the surface.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/011905-03_01.jpg) STORMING THE BEACH: The SMBRC hopes to clean the Santa Monica Bay waters enough so that someday there will be no beach closings. (Photo: Photo courtesy) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 19, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/011905.pdf?ref=smdp.com)