EPA's Beach Report: Michigan 2012 Swimming Season


&EFA
   United States
   Environmental Protection
   Agency
          EPA's BEACH  Report:
          Michigan 2012 Swimming Season
          September 2013


 Introduction

 The Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal
 Health (BEACH) Act of 2000 authorizes EPA to provide
                EPA820-F-13-018


Table 1. Number of monitored and
     unmonitored coastal beaches by
     county for 2012
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and eligible tribes to monitor their coastal beaches for
bacteria that indicate the possible presence of disease-

causing pathogens and to notify the public when there
is a potential risk to public health. The BEACH Act
requires that recipients of those grants report their
coastal beach monitoring and notification data to EPA.
This fact sheet highlights the data submitted to EPA by
the State of Michigan for the 2012 swimming season.


2012 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions

Michigan reports 564 coastal beaches located in
40 counties (Figure 1). Michigan monitored 230 of those
beaches during the 2012 swimming season (Table 1).
When monitoring results at swimming beaches show
that levels of specific indicator bacteria in the water
exceed applicable water quality standards, Michigan
officials issue a beach advisory, warning people of
possible risks of swimming or close the beach to public
swimming until further monitoring finds that water
quality complies with applicable standards.

Figure 1. Michigan coastal counties
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• Total Not
County Beaches Monitored Monitored






































ALCONA 752
ALGER 16 3 13
ALLEGAN 550
ALPENA 14 5 9
ANTRIM 16 6 10
ARENAC 17 5 12
BARAGA 12 1 11
BAY 651
BENZIE 7 1 6
BERRIEN 21 14 7
CHARLEVOIX 20 14 6
CHEBOYGAN 12 4 8
CHIPPEWA 26 10 16
DELTA 30 2 28
EMMET 20 11 9
GOGEBIC 707
GRAND TRAVERSE 31 5 26
HOUGHTON 15 7 8
HURON 24 13 11
IOSCO 13 11 2
KEWEENAW 14 1 13
LEELANAU 36 6 30
LUCE 16 0 16
MACKINAC 34 6 28
MACOMB 330
MANISTEE 10 9 1
MARQUETTE 752
MASON 11 7 4
MENOMINEE 835
MONROE 220
MUSKEGON 13 13 0
OCEANA 853
ONTONAGON 10 2 8
OTTAWA 11 9 2
PRESQUEISLE 20 2 18
SANILAC 12 5 7
SCHOOLCRAFT 945
ST. CLAIR 15 15 0
VANBUREN 440
WAYNE 220
TOTALS 564 230 334

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  Figure 2: Percent of beaches with one or
            more notification actions
   Figure 4: Percent of beach days open
            and safe for swimming
   Figure 3: Duration of beach notification
            actions in 2012
            8-30 days
               7%
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2012, of the 230 coastal beaches that Michigan
monitored, 77 (33 percent) had at least one
notification action (Figure 2).

How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Michigan issued 127 notification actions during the
2012 swimming season. Typically Michigan lifts
an action when follow-up monitoring indicates that
water quality complies with applicable standards.
For the majority of actions (76 percent) water
quality returned to normal and beaches were
deemed safe for swimming within one or two days
(Figure 3).

What percentage of days were beaches under
a notification action?
EPA calculates the total available beach days and
the number of beach days with notification actions

                                                              • To the Beach  \
                                                              • To the Beach)
                                  98.7%

                                  96.8%

                                  96.8%

                                  96.8%

                                  98.2%
to better track trends over time. Total available
beach days are determined by multiplying the
length of the beach season by the number of
beaches in the state. For 2012 EPA calculated
that 25,071 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 230 monitored Michigan
beaches. Michigan reported notification actions
on 324 days, meaning that beaches were open
and safe for swimming about 99 percent of the
time. This continues the trend of consistently
high percentages of open beach days at beaches in
Michigan (Figure 4).


For  More Information
For information about the Michigan beach program
contact:
Shannon Briggs
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Tel: 517-335-1214
e-mail: briggss4@michigan.gov
For general information about beaches visit:
http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/beaches/.
For information about a specific beach visit:
http://watersgeo.epa.goy/beacon2/.

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