&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's BEACH Report:
Minnesota 2011 Swimming Season
September 2012
EPA820-F-12-035
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 Minnesota for the 2011 swimming season.
2011 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions
Minnesota monitored 39 coastal beaches in three
counties during the 2011 swimming season
(Figurel and Table 1). When monitoring results
at swimming beaches show that levels of specific
indicator bacteria in the water exceed applicable
water quality standards, Minnesota officials issue a
beach advisory, warning people of possible risks of
swimming.
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2011, of the 39 coastal beaches that Minnesota
monitored, 16 (41 percent) had at least one
notification action (Figure 2). This is an increase
from 2010 but in line with percentages from 2007
to 2009. The Minnesota Department of Health has
identified Lake Superior beaches near Duluth as
the greatest area of concern due to increased runoff
and sources of bacteria.
Figure 1. Minnesota coastal counties.
Table 1. Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2011.
County
COOK
LAKE
ST. LOUIS
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
22
23
34
79
Monitored
11
11
17
39
Not
Monitored
11
12
17
40
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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
8-30 days
10%
Over 30 days
6%
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Minnesota issued 31 notification actions during the
2011 swimming season. Typically Minnesota 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 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 better track trends over time. Total available
beach days are determined by multiplying the
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
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96.2%
98.9%
97.8%
95.5%
95.8%
length of the beach season by the number of
beaches in the state. For 2011 EPA calculated
that 5,031 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 39 monitored Minnesota
beaches. Minnesota reported notification actions
on 190 days, meaning that beaches were open
and safe for swimming about 96 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 Minnesota beach
program contact:
Amy Westbrook
Minnesota Department of Health
Tel: 218-723-4907
e-mail: amy.westbrook@state.mn.us
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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