&EFA United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA's BEACH Report: California 2011 Swimming Season September 2012 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 California for the 2011 swimming season. 2011 Swimming Season Monitoring and Notification Actions California monitored 439 coastal beaches in 17 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, California officials issue a beach advisory, warning people of possible risks of swimming. How many beaches had notification actions? In 2011, of the 439 coastal beaches that California monitored, 126 (29 percent) had at least one notification action (Figure 2). This is approximately the same as in previous years. EPA820-F-12-046 Figure 1. California coastal counties. Contra Costa Alameda Santa Cruz Santa Barbara Ventura Marin San Francisco San Mateo Table 1. Number of monitored and unmonitored coastal beaches by county for 2011. County ALAMEDA CONTRA COSTA DEL NORTE HUMBOLT LOS ANGELES MARIN MENDOCINO MONTEREY ORANGE SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SAN LUIS OBISPO SAN MATEO SANTA BARBARA SANTA CRUZ SONOMA VENTURA TOTALS Total Beaches 2 1 12 28 49 28 21 25 28 76 7 17 43 34 28 7 35 441 Monitored 2 1 12 28 49 28 21 25 28 76 7 17 41 34 28 7 35 439 Not Monitored 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 ------- Figure 2: Percent of beaches with one or more notification actions Figure 4: Percent of beach days open and safe for swimming Ofll 1 1 201 OC 2009 2008 3 33% 3 31% 1 40% 1 32% 2007 T 1 "* Figure 3: Duration of beach notification actions in 2011 8-30 days 17% Over 30 days 2% How many notification actions were issued and how long did they last? California issued 745 notification actions during the 2011 swimming season. Typically California lifts an action when follow-up monitoring indicates that water quality complies with applicable standards. For the majority of actions (81 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 beach days are determined by multiplying the length of the beach season by the number of 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 To the Beach \ To the Beach) |§To the Beach) 96.8% 95.6% 93.8% 93.9% 95.5% beaches in the state. For 2011 EPA calculated that 142,933 beach days were associated with the swimming seasons of the 439 monitored California beaches. California reported notification actions on 4,545 days, meaning that beaches were open and safe for swimming approximately 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 California beach program contact: Michael Gjerde California State Water Resources Control Board Tel: 916-341-5283 e-mail: mgjerde@waterboards.ca.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/. ------- |