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Storm Effects On Regional Beach Water Quality Along The Southern California Shoreline, Rachel T. Nobel, Stephen B. Weisberg, Molly K. Leecaster, Charles D. Mcgee, John Dorsey, Patricia Vainik, Victoria Orozco-Borbón

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Works

Two regional studies conducted during dry weather demonstrated that the Southern California Bight (SCB) shoreline has good water quality, except near areas that drain land-based runoff. Here, we repeat those regional studies 36 h after a rainstorm to assess the influence of runoff under high flow conditions. Two hundred and fifty-four shoreline sites between Santa Barbara, California and Ensenada, Mexico were sampled using a stratified-random sampling design with four strata: sandy beaches, rocky shoreline, shoreline adjacent to urban runoff outlets that flow intermittently, and shoreline adjacent to outlets that flow year-round. Each site was sampled for total coliforms, fecal coliforms …