EPA's BEACH Report:
Michigan 2008 Swimming Season
May 2009
Introduction
The BEACH Act of 2000 requires that coastal
and Great Lakes states and territories report
to EPA on beach monitoring and notification
data for their coastal recreation waters.
The BEACH Act defines coastal recreation
waters as the Great Lakes and coastal waters
(including coastal estuaries) that states,
territories, and authorized tribes officially
recognize or designate for swimming,
bathing, surfing, or similar activities in the
water.
This fact sheet summarizes beach monitoring
and notification data submitted to EPA by
the State of Michigan for the 2008 swimming
season.
Figure 1. Michigan coastal counties.
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2008.
EM
Charlevoi
Leelanau X" j» Antrim
Benziei ', Grand
Manis
Mason
Ocea
Muskegon
Ottawa
Allegan
Van Bure
Berrien
Traverse
Arenac L
Bay
County
ALCONA
ALGER
ALLEGAN
ALPENA
ANTRIM
ARENAC
BARAGA
BAY
BENZIE
BERRIEN
CHARLEVOIX
CHEBOYGAN
CHIPPEWA
DELTA
EMMET
GOGEBIC
GRAND TRAVERSE
HOUGHTON
HURON
IOSCO
KEWEENAW
LEELANAU
LUCE
MACKINAC
MACOMB
MANISTEE
MARQUETTE
MASON
MENOMINEE
MONROE
MUSKEGON
OCEANA
ONTONAGON
OTTAWA
PRESQUE ISLE
SAN 1 LAC
SCHOOLCRAFT
ST. CLAIR
VAN BUREN
WAYNE
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
15
19
11
21
28
28
24
10
10
33
20
23
27
55
35
10
47
24
41
24
27
54
17
56
14
18
9
16
11
12
19
16
18
15
37
23
15
24
8
7
921
Monitored
1
0
4
5
5
8
2
5
1
13
14
4
6
0
11
0
5
7
12
8
1
4
0
2
4
9
5
7
2
5
12
6
2
9
5
4
2
15
4
3
212
Not
Monitored
14
19
7
16
23
20
22
5
9
20
6
19
21
55
24
10
42
17
29
16
26
50
17
54
10
9
4
9
9
7
7
10
16
6
32
19
13
9
4
4
709
-------
2008 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported
and how long were they?
When water quality standards are exceeded at a
particular beach, Michigan's approach is to issue a
beach advisory that warns people to avoid contact
with the water. A total of 27 monitored beaches
had at least one advisory issued during the 2008
swimming season. About 40 percent of Michigan's
53 notification actions lasted two days or less.
Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of notification
action durations.
What percentage of days were beaches under a
notification action?
For Michigan's 2008 swimming season, actions were
reported about 2 percent of the time (Figure 3).
How do 2008 results compare to previous years?
Table 2 compares 2008 notification action data with
monitored beach data from previous years.
What pollution sources possibly affect
investigated monitored beaches?
Figure 4 displays Michigan's investigated monitored
beaches possibly affected by various pollution
sources. In 2008, all investigated beaches indicated
they had unidentified sources of pollution.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in Michigan:
www.deq.state.mi.us/beach/public/
default.aspx
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
25 n
20
2 3-7 8-30
Duration of Actions (days)
>30
Figure 3: Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
387
(2%)
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2006-2008.
Beach days
with no action
21,310
(98%)
Number of monitored
beaches
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
Percentage of beach days
affected by notification
actions
2006
211
42
20%
2%
2007
208
32
15%
3%
2008
212
27
13%
2%
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches affected by
possible pollution sources (212 beaches).
0 10 20 30
Percent of beaches
40 50 60 70
80 90 100
Investigated / no sources found
Non-storm related runoff
Storm-related runoff
Agricultural runoff
Boat discharge
Cone, animal feeding operation
Combined sewer overflow
Sanitary sewer overflow
Publicly-owned treatment works
Sewer line leak or break
Septic system leakage o
Wildlife 1
Other (identified) source(s)
Unidentified source(s)
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
)1
0
Note: A single beach may
have multiple sources.
100
------- |