&EFA
    United States
    Environmental Protection
    Agency
               EPA's  BEACH  Report:
              Wisconsin 2012  Swimming Season
              September 2013
                      EPA820-F-13-052
  Introduction
  The Beaches Environmental Assessment and
  Coastal Health (BEACH) Act of 2000 authorizes
  EPA to provide grants to coastal and Great Lakes
  states, territories, 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 Wisconsin for the 2012 swimming season.


  2012 Swimming Season
  Monitoring and Notification
  Actions
  Wisconsin reports 193 coastal beaches in
  15 counties. Wisconsin monitored 117 of these
  beaches in 13 counties during the 2012 swimming
  season (Figure 1 and Table 1). When monitoring
  results at swimming beaches show that levels of
  specific indicator bacteria in the water exceed
  applicable water quality standards, Wisconsin
  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. In some cases, advisories and closings
  are issued preemptively (i.e., without having actual
  bacteria monitoring results) due to storms or other
  conditions that might affect swimmer safety.
Figure 1. Wisconsin coastal counties
                       Manitowoc
                     Sheboygan

                        Ozaukee
                       Milwaukee

                        Racine
                                      i nee
                                  Kenosha
Table 1.  Number of monitored and
        unmonitored coastal beaches by
        county for 2012

County
ASHLAND
BAYFIELD
BROWN
DOOR
DOUGLAS
IRON
KENOSHA
KEWAUNEE
MANITOWOC
MARINETTE
MILWAUKEE
OCONTO
OZAUKEE
RACINE
SHEBOYGAN
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
7
19
9
53
16
5
7
5
17
6
13
1
12
7
16
193

Monitored
7
17
3
31
12
5
5
2
9
0
9
0
7
2
8
117
Not
Monitored
0
2
6
22
4
0
2
3
8
6
4
1
5
5
8
76

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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
                                  76%
   Figure 3: Duration of beach notification
            actions in 2012
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2012, of the 117 coastal beaches that Wisconsin
monitored, 89 (76 percent) had at least one
notification action (Figure 2). This is approximately
the same as in most previous years with the
exception of 2009.

How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Wisconsin issued 556 notification actions during
the 2012 swimming season. Typically Wisconsin
lifts an action when follow-up monitoring indicates
that water quality complies with applicable
standards. For the majority of actions (94 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

       2012

       2011

       2010

       2009

       2008
                                                              • To the Beach)
                                                              • To the Beach >
                                                              • To the Beach)
                                                              • To the Beach)
93.8%

94.4%

92.2%

96.4%

92.9%
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 11,149 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 117 monitored Wisconsin
beaches. Wisconsin reported notification actions
on 696 days, meaning that beaches were open
and safe for swimming about 94 percent of the
time. This continues the trend of consistently
high percentages of open beach days at beaches in
Wisconsin (Figure 4).


For  More Information
For information about the Wisconsin beach
program contact:
Donalea Dinsmore
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Tel: 608-266-1926
e-mail: donalea.dinsmore@wisconsin.gov

For general information about beaches visit:
http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/beaches/.
For information about a specific beach visit:
http://watersgeo.epa.gov/beacon2/.

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