686 of California's water bodies in the state that do not meet water quality standards.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it has approved California State Water Resources Control Board's list of 686 water bodies in the state that do not meet water quality standards. The list – known as the federal Clean Water Act Section 303(d) list – includes bays, estuaries, portions of the ocean, lakes, streams and rivers. The 303(d) list is used by federal, state, and local agencies to set priorities for development of pollution controls and restoration of polluted waters. (Full read here)

"We agree with the state's findings that many of California's best-known waters still have pollution problems, including San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento River, Lake Tahoe, Salton Sea and southern California beaches," said Alexis Strauss, Water Division director in the U.S. EPA's Pacific Southwest region. "There are some additional bays and streams, and some other pollutants, which also merit our combined attention. Many of the (36) waters we propose to add are beaches impaired by high bacteria." The state's list of impaired water is here