Less rain means less runoff.
And that means cleaner beaches... in most places.
The dry winter brought good news for surfers, fishermen and women, and other beachcombers in the Bay Area, according to the Heal the Bay's annual beach report card.
However, hard times are still here for some hard-luck beaches in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, according to reports.
Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz is the state's nastiest, the Santa Cruz Sentinel noted, with 90 percent of tests there revealing bacteria levels above state standards.
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Other Bay Area beaches on the bummer list for summer were Marina Lagoon and Pillar Point in San Mateo County, Capitola Beach in Santa Cruz County, and Windsurfer Circle at San Francisco's Candlestick Point.
In Southern California, 90 percent of beaches in LA County received good to excellent letter grades with As and Bs during the summer, dry-weather months. Fifty-percent of the same beaches recieved As and Bs during the winter, wet-weather months. That was a 2 percent fall from last years markings.
Ventura County beaches all passed with excellent grades, each receiving A grades during the summer and winter months.
Similarily, Santa Barbara County beaches weren't far off with 100 percent of the locations tested receiveing A grades in the summer months and 94 percent receiving A or B grades in the winter months.
Heal the Bay has released annual reports since 1990 to educate the public about pollution and environmental issues.
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NBC LA's Irene Moore contributed to this report.
