Moonstone Beach Bummer

Since 2005, our Water Quality Program has documented conditions of local streams and sloughs to identify problem areas for future monitoring and to pinpoint pollution sources so we can work to reduce or eliminate them. Thanks to the dozens of dedicated volunteers and partners who help make our program successful!
Clam Beach has been on Heal the Bay's “Beach Bummer” list of California's most polluted beaches for years, getting an 'F' for water quality on the latest Beach Report Card.
But after years of research, we now have a better sense of the source of this pollution thanks to a new study by Humboldt County's Public Health Lab Manager, Dr. Jeremy Corrigan.
This winter, we continued our bacteria pollution study with the goal of identifying the sources of fecal bacteria at six sites in Jolly Giant Creek in Arcata. This Humboldt Bay tributary was flagged for further investigation due to the frequency of human genetic material in samples taken near Samoa Blvd. during the Regional Water Board's Coastal Streams Pathogens TMDL Project.
COVID-19 update: Our sampling event scheduled for April 6 has been delayed due to both safety concerns and limited lab capacity. Our extraordinairy colleagues at the Humboldt County Public Health Lab are working diligently to analyze COVID-19 samples. We will resume our Jolly Giant Creek Bacteria Source Study as soon as it is safe to do so.