&EFA
  United States
  Environmental Protection
  Agency
       EPA's BEACH Report:
       Florida 2011 Swimming Season
       August 2012
EPA820-F-12-034
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
sheet highlights the data submitted to EPA by
fact
the
State of Florida for the 2011 swimming season.








2011 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions

Florida monitored 275 coastal beaches in









34 counties during the 2011 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, Florida officials issue a
beach advisory, warning people of possible
swimming.
Figure 1. Florida coastal counties.

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Table 1. Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2011.

• Total Not
County Beaches Monitored Monitored























BAY 16 13 3
BREVARD 27 8 19
BROWARD 19 13 6
CHARLOTTE 11 8 3
CITRUS 1 1 0
COLLIER 56 10 46
DIXIE 1 1 0
DUVAL 10 10 0
ESCAMBIA 18 9 9
FLAGLER 963
FRANKLIN 7 6 1
GULF 7 6 1
HERNANDO 1 1 0
HILLSBOROUGH 990
INDIAN RIVER 17 6 11
LEE 22 13 9
LEW 2 1 1
MANATEE 12 7 5
MARTIN 21 8 13
MIAMI-DADE 19 15 4
MONROE 39 15 24
NASSAU 30 10 20
OKALOOSA 26 12 14
PALM BEACH 24 13 11
PASCO 770
PIN ELLAS 48 10 38
SANTA ROSA 10 5 5
SARASOTA 34 16 18
ST. JOHNS 862
ST. LUCIE 25 4 21
TAYLOR 532
VOLUSIA 16 13 3
WAKULLA 220
WALTON 12 8 4
TOTALS 571 275 296

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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 2011
       Over 30 days
           9%
                  1-2 days
                    6%
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2011, of the 275 monitored coastal beaches that
Florida monitored, 92 (33 percent) had at least one
notification action (Figure 2). This is approximately
the same as in previous years.

How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Florida issued 215 notification actions during the
2011 swimming season. Typically Florida lifts an
action when follow-up monitoring indicates that
water quality complies with applicable standards.
For the majority of actions (65 percent) water
quality returned to normal and beaches were
deemed safe for swimming within a week or less
(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
                                                         2011

                                                         2010

                                                         2009

                                                         2008

                                                         2007
             • To the Beach)
             • To the Beach)
             MTo the Beach)
             IK To the Beach)
97.4%

97.6%

96.9%

95.2%

94.7%
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 2011 EPA calculated
that 100,740 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 275 monitored Florida
beaches. Florida reported notification actions on
2,632 days, meaning that beaches were open and
safe for swimming about 97 percent of the time.
This  continues the trend of consistently high
percentages of open beach days at state beaches
(Figure 4).


For More Information
For information about the Florida beach program
contact:
David Polk
Florida Department of Health
Tel: 850-245-4444
e-mail: david  polk@doh.state.fl.us
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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