&EFA
    United States
    Environmental Protection
    Agency
              EPA's  BEACH   Report:
              Alaska  2011  Swimming Season
              September 2012
                      EPA820-F-12-047
  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 Alaska for the 2011 swimming season.


  2011  Swimming Season
  Monitoring and Notification
  Actions
  Alaska monitored three coastal beaches in three
  communities 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, Alaska officials issue a
  beach advisory, warning people of possible risks of
  swimming.

  How many beaches had notification actions?
  In 2011, none of the 3 coastal beaches that Alaska
  monitored had a notification action (Figure 2). This
  is consistent with previous years.
 Figure 1. Alaska coastal communities.
Table 1. Number of monitored and
       unmonitored coastal beaches
       for 2011.

Community




NAKNEK
DILLINGHAM
JUNEAU
TOTALS
Total
Beaches
1
1
1
3

Monitored
1
1
1
3
Not
Monitored
0
0
0
0

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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
                  2011 I 0%
                  2010 I 0%
                  2009 I 0%
                  2008 I 0%
                  2007 I 0%
   Figure 3: Duration of beach notification
            actions in 2011
                                   0 days
                                   100%
How many notification actions were issued and
how long did they last?
Alaska issued no notification actions during
the 2011 swimming season. If an action were to
occur, Alaska would lift the action when follow-up
monitoring indicates that water quality complies
with applicable standards. In 2011 Alaska beaches
were deemed safe for swimming 100 percent of the
time (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
                                                             • To the Beach V
|§To the Beach V
MTo the Beach \
                                                             • To the Beach }
                                                             • To the Beach 1
100%

100%

100%

100%

100%
length of the beach season by the number of
beaches in the state. For 2011 EPA calculated that
270 beach days were associated with the swimming
seasons of the 3 monitored Alaska beaches. Alaska
reported notification actions on 0 days, meaning
that beaches were open and safe for swimming
100 percent of the time. This continues the trend of
100 percent open beach days (Figure 4).


For  More Information
For information about the Alaska beach program
contact:
Jim Powell
Department of Environmental Conservation
Tel: 907-451-2881
e-mail: jim  powell@dec.state.ak.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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