%
a\ EPA's BEACH Report:
g	e	1
^ / Michigan 2009 Swimming Season
May 2010
Introduction
The BEACH Act of 2000 requires that coastal
and Great Lakes states and territories report
to EPA on beach monitoring and notification
data for their coastal recreation waters.
The BEACH Act defines coastal recreation
waters as the Great Lakes and coastal waters
(including coastal estuaries) that states,
territories, and authorized tribes officially
recognize or designate for swimming,
bathing, surfing, or similar activities in the
water.
This fact sheet summarizes beach monitoring
and notification data submitted to EPA by
the State of Michigan for the 2009 swimming
season.
Figure 1. Michigan coastal counties.
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2009.
County
Total
Beaches
Monitored
Not
Monitorei
ALCONA
7
6
1
ALGER
12
0
12
ALLEGAN
5
4
1
ALPENA
14
5
9
ANTRIM
16
6
10
ARENAC
15
8
7
BARAGA
12
1
11
BAY
6
5
1
BENZIE
7
1
6
BERRIEN
21
14
7
CHARLEVOIX
21
15
6
CHEBOYGAN
13
4
9
CHIPPEWA
26
6
10
DELTA
28
2
26
EMMET
21
11
10
GOGEBIC
7
0
7
GRAND TRAVERSE
32
5
27
HOUGHTON
15
7
8
HURON
24
13
11
IOSCO
13
9
4
KEWEENAW
14
1
13
LEELANAU
35
3
32
LUCE
16
0
16
MACKINAC
39
2
37
MACOMB
4
4
0
MANISTEE
10
9
1
MARQUETTE
7
5
2
MASON
10
7
3
MENOMINEE
8
2
6
MONROE
2
2
0
MUSKEGON
13
12
1
OCEANA
8
7
1
ONTONAGON
11
2
9
OTTAWA
11
9
2
PRESQUE ISLE
22
4
18
SANILAC
12
5
7
SCHOOLCRAFT
9
2
7
ST. CLAIR
15
15
0
VAN BUREN
4
4
0
WAYNE
3
3
0
TOTALS	568	220	348
Houghtt
Chippewa
leboygan
Menominee
;$j Antrim
Grand
Traverse
Arenac
Alcona
Macomb
Wayne £
Monroe
Berrien
Charlevoi;
Leelanau
BenzL
Manistei
Mason
Oceana
Muskegon
Ottawa
Allegan
Van Burei

-------
2009 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported
and how long were they?
When water quality standards are exceeded at a
particular beach, Michigan's approach is to issue a
beach advisory that warns people to avoid contact
with the water. A total of 41 monitored beaches
had at least one advisory issued during the 2009
swimming season. About 55 percent of Michigan's
62 notification actions lasted two days or less.
Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of notification
action durations.
What percentage of days were beaches under a
notification action?
For Michigan's 2009 swimming season, actions were
reported about 3 percent of the time (Figure 3).
How do 2009 results compare to previous years?
Table 2 compares 2009 notification action data with
monitored beach data from previous years.
What pollution sources possibly affect
investigated monitored beaches?
Figure 4 displays Michigan's investigated monitored
beaches possibly affected by various pollution
sources. In 2009, most investigated beaches indicated
they had unidentified sources of pollution.
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in Michigan:
www.deq.state.mi.us/beach/public/
default.aspx
Figure 4: Percent of investigated monitored beaches affected
by possible pollution sources (215 beaches).
Percent of beaches
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1 00
Investigated / no sources found
Non-storm related runoff
Storm-related runoff
Agricultural runoff
Boat discharge
Cone, animal feeding operation
Combined sewer overflow
Sanitary sewer overflow
Publicly-owned treatment works
Sewer line leak or break
Septic system leakage
Wildlife
Other (identified) source(s)
Unidentified source(s)
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
Figure 3:
11 12
III
2	3-7 8-30 >30
Duration of Actions (Days)
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2007-2009.

2007
2008
2009
Number of monitored
beaches
208
212
220
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
32
27
41
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
15%
13%
19%
Percentage of beach days
affected by notification
actions
3%
2%
3%
<	1
0
1	3
1
0
0
0
<	1
0
0
0
1
0









Note: A single beach may
have multiple sources.




99

Beach days
with no action
19,994
(97%)
Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
661
(3%)

-------