&EFA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA's BEACH Report:
Guam 2011 Swimming Season
September 2012
EPA820-F-12-040
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
Guam for the 2011 swimming season.
2011 Swimming Season
Monitoring and Notification
Actions
Guam monitored 31 coastal beaches 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,
Guam officials issue a beach advisory, warning
people of possible risks of swimming.
How many beaches had notification actions?
In 2011, of the 31 coastal beaches that Guam
monitored, 29 (94 percent) had at least one
notification action. This is approximately the same
as in previous years (Figure 2).
Figure 1. Guam
Table 1.
Number of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches
for 2011.
Total Not
Beaches Monitored Monitored
TOTALS
31
31
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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
5%
Over 30 days
3-7 days
88%
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Guam issued 827 notification actions during the
2011 swimming season. Typically Guam 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 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
to better track trends over time. Total available
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
M To the Beach)
• To the Beach)
52.6%
60.4%
58.7%
56.1%
68.5%
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 11,315 beach days were associated with the
swimming seasons of the 31 monitored Guam
beaches. Guam reported notification actions on
5,366 days, meaning that beaches were open and
safe for swimming about 53 percent of the time.
This is approximately the same as in previous years
(Figure 4).
For More Information
For information about the Guam beach program
contact:
Anne Leon Guerrero
Environmental Protection Agency
Tel: 671-475-1656
e-mail: annie.leonguerrero@epa.guam.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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