Good news for sand and surf-loving Angelenos: The beach water is getting cleaner.

The water at 82% of L.A. County beaches earned A or B grades from April to October last year, up from 75% the previous year, according to Heal the Bay’s annual Beach Report Card, released Thursday.

Last year, the Santa Monica-based environmental group reported a dip in water quality that bucked years of steady improvement. That was attributed in part to heavy rainfall. Heal the Bay credited the gains to a drier winter and the construction of more facilities to capture, treat and divert tainted storm water before it reaches the ocean.

The city of Los Angeles has completed eight such projects from Pacific Palisades to Playa del Rey, the group said. In most cases, nearby beaches saw improved water quality.

“They received really stellar grades,” said Amanda Griesbach, a Heal the Bay water quality scientist.

Still, L.A. County remains far below the state average: 92% of California's beaches earned A or B grades, up 2% from the prior year.

The report evaluated hundreds of beaches in California, Oregon and Washington from April 2011 to March 2012, giving them grades of A to F based on tests for bacterial pollution levels, which indicate how likely the water is to harbor pathogens that can make swimmers sick.

Long Beach continued its dramatic turnaround, the report shows.