34 OC Beaches on Heal the Bay’s Honor Roll

Orange County beaches made waves statewide! OC’s beaches had an incredible year in Heal the Bay’s 2024-2025 Beach Report Card with 34 OC Beaches named to the Beach Honor Roll. This is far more than any other county in California for the second year in a row.

The Beach Report Card uses bacteria as the key sampling metric. It includes an honor roll for beaches that scored an A+ grade in all conditions (summer dry, winter dry, and wet weather), and a beach bummer list for the 10 lowest graded beaches for summer dry weather. Orange County had no beaches on the beach bummer list this year! This means all our beaches regularly stayed open and safe for our residents to enjoy.

In 2024-2025, 34 of the 62 beaches on the honor roll were from Orange County. We are tremendously proud of our entire team of water quality professionals, residents, and businesses making an impact together. Excellent work, OC!

Most of our waterways start in mountain ranges surrounding OC. Stormwater and runoff then flow into the storm drain system potentially bringing anything they come into contact with them to the Pacific Ocean. Unlike the sewer system which does treat water, anything that flows into the storm drain system can go untreated into our creeks, rivers, and ocean. H₂OC is committed to keeping pollutants like trash, bacteria, and chemicals away from our waterways. We, along with community stakeholders and other agencies, work tirelessly every day to help our community thrive.

Let’s talk about how our beaches are monitored and graded!

Beach Performance

Both inland and coastal waterways in Orange County are monitored weekly by state, local, and tribal authorities to keep our residents healthy and informed. In Heal the Bay’s 2024-2025 Beach Report Card, beaches receive grades A to F for the following:

• Summer dry (sampling occurs during the summer months on dry, non-rainy days)
• Winter dry (sampling occurs during the winter months on dry, non-rainy days)
• Wet weather (sampling occurs during and after a rain event)

When indicator bacteria rise beyond a certain threshold, a health advisory is issued for  that location. The frequency of these health advisories plays a key role in determining a beach’s grade.

This past year, our beaches remained safe for our residents and visitors, with outstanding year-round water quality across Orange County. For the second consecutive year, OC topped the state’s honor roll, adding 10 more beaches to the list compared to last year.

Check out Heal the Bay’s 2024-2025 Beach Report Card for the full details.

Here’s everything we do to achieve these wonderful grades!

Water Quality

Our waterways thrive when we work together with our neighbors to keep them clean and healthy. Through partnerships with local agencies, we’ve kept neighborhoods protected by addressing 242 pollution incidents reported to our 24-hour pollution hotline and website this past year. 

OC Public Works, OC Health Care Agency, OC Sanitation District, and South OC Wastewater Authority monitor 136 different sites across the county. The data from these sites is used to determine our report card grades. OC Public Works also uses innovative monitoring technology to identify sources of human-related bacteria in urban runoff since this can be especially dangerous to human health. 

Additionally, targeted dry weather storm drain diversions and treatment systems protect our creeks, rivers, and ocean. Diversions collect runoff from the storm drain system for treatment at a wastewater treatment plant. Numerous OC beaches, like Salt Creek Beach, have treatment systems that use ozone or ultraviolet light to neutralize bacteria found in runoff. 

While this report focuses on water quality at the coast, the quality of inland waterways matters too. Protecting inland waterways keeps upstream pollutants out of our downstream creeks, rivers, and ocean. Along with our community partners, we have implemented thousands of green stormwater infrastructure projects throughout Orange County. These projects include vegetated swales, permeable pavement, and trash capture devices that prevent pollutants from entering our waterways and collect rainwater onsite.

However, protecting our creeks, rivers, and ocean isn’t only up to us. Your actions can make a huge difference too.

Things You Can Do

Thank you to all OC residents for doing a stellar job keeping our beaches and creeks clean. Having more than half of the beaches on the honor roll list is spectacular! Let’s keep up the wonderful work. Here are some ways you can continue to be the solution to runoff pollution:

• Clean your yard. Sweeping and disposing of debris, picking up pet waste, and properly storing household hazardous materials – indoors or under cover – helps prevent rain from washing contaminants into the storm drain system.
• Keep waste bins covered. Covered bins prevent wind and rain from carrying trash and other waste into the storm drain system. This simple action also helps protect and extend the effectiveness of our green stormwater infrastructure like vegetated swales.
• Skip watering before, during, and after a rain event. Overwatering is wasteful and can cause runoff to flow into the storm drain system, picking up pollutants on its way to OC’s waterbodies. By checking the forecast and adjusting your watering schedule, you can save water while protecting our waterways from unnecessary runoff pollution.
• Join a Beach Cleanup. OC’s beaches are cherished all over the world because people like YOU volunteer to help keep them clean! To find a cleanup event near you, check out our events calendar. 
• Collect Rainwater. Collecting rainwater is incredibly helpful for preventing pollution and protecting this precious resource. Utilize existing rebates here and get a rain barrel today!
• Support Rainwater Collection Projects.  We are implementing projects that collect rainwater all throughout OC. Help these efforts by sending an email or letter of support to local officials, attend a community meeting, and vote in support of ballot measures that fund projects that collect and protect our water resources. Learn more here.  

Small actions can make a big impact in keeping our water resources healthy.

Keep OC’s Beaches Clean

OC’s beaches are some of our most special water resources. Keep them that way by committing to protecting our creeks, rivers, and ocean.

For more waterway protection tips, click here. Thank you to residents from across the county for being the solution to runoff pollution. Let’s make our 2025-2026 Heal the Bay Beach Report Card even better together!y.