EPA's BEACH Report: Ohio 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 Ohio for the 2008 swimming season. Figure 1. Ohio coastal counties. Ashtabula Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and unmonitored coastal beaches by county for 2008. County ASHTABULA CUYAHOGA ERIE LAKE LORAIN LUCAS OTTAWA TOTALS Total Beaches 4 4 25 2 2 2 7 46 Monitored 4 4 25 2 2 2 7 46 Not Monitored 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ------- 2008 Summary Results How many notification actions were reported and how long were they? When water quality standards are exceeded at a particular beach, Ohio's approach is to issue a beach advisory that warns people to avoid contact with the water. A total of 41 monitored beaches had at least one advisory issued during the 2008 swimming season. Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of notification action durations. What percentage of days were beaches under a notification action? For Ohio's 2008 swimming season, actions were reported about 17 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? Possible pollution sources were not investigated at Ohio beaches. For More Information For general information about beaches: www.epa.gov/beaches/ For information about beaches in Ohio: www.odh.ohio.gov, (614) 466-1390, or l-(866) OHIO BCH Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration. 180^ 161 98 2 3-7 8-30 Duration of Actions (days) >30 Figure 3: Beach days with and without notification actions. Beach days with an action: 801 (17%) Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2006-2008. Beach days with no action 3,799 (83%) 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 52 42 81% 12% 2007 55 37 67% 10% 2008 46 41 89% 17% ------- |