^tDsrx
I Q %
I®/
V
pro'^
EPA's BEACH Report:
Louisiana 2007 Swimming Season
July 2008
Introduction
The BEACIT Act of 2000 requires that coastal
and Great Lakes states and territories report
beach water quality monitoring and notification
data for their coastal recreation waters to EPA,
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 Louisiana for the 2007 swimming
season.
Due to the lingering impacts of Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, levels of use during the
2007 swimming season remained low relative
to historic levels at Cameron Parish beaches,
and Fontainebleau State Park remained closed
during the entire 2007 swimming season.
Based on observed use levels and patterns
near the end of the 2007 swimming season
and projections of use for the 2008 swimming
season by program partners and local officials,
it is anticipated that use levels and patterns
will remain at approximately historic levels as
estimated in 2003 and reported in the Beach
Report for all beaches in 2008 except for the
Cameron Parish beaches and Fourchon Beach.
Cameron Parish beaches are expected to
operate at 50%-75% of pre-hurricane levels, and
use at Fourchon Beach is expected to remain
at historic levels, but the pattern of use has
been shifted towards the eastern portion of the
beach segment by access constraints.
Figure 1. Louisiana coastal counties.
St. Tammany
Calcasieu
St. Ma
Jefferso
Cameron
LaFourcne
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2007.
County
Total
Beaches
Monitored
Not
Monitored
CALCASIEU
2
0
2
CAMERON
13
13
0
JEFFERSON
7
7
0
LAFOURCHE
4
4
0
ST. MARY
1
1
0
ST. TAMMANY
1
1
0
TOTALS
28
26
2

-------
2007 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported
and how long were they?
Louisiana issues beach advisories when water
quality standards are exceeded. A total of 18
monitored beaches had at least one advisory issued
during the 2007 swimming season. Figure 2 presents
a full breakdown of notification action durations.
What percentage of days were beaches under a
notification action?
For Louisiana's 2007 swimming season, actions were
reported about 38 percent of the time (Figure 3).
How do 2007 results compare to previous years?
Table 2 compares 2007 notification action data with
monitored beach data from previous years.
What pollution sources impact monitored
beaches?
Potential sources of pollution impacting Louisiana's
monitored beaches in 2007 are unidentified
(Figure 4).
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.

25
(n
20
c

o

'*•*
o
15
<

Ǥ-

o
10
6

z


5

0
1 - 2 Days
3-7 Days 8-30 Days > 30 Days
Duration of Actions (days)
Figure 3:
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in Louisiana:
www.ophbeachmonitoring.com
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2005-2007.

2005
2006
2007
Number of monitored
beaches
26
22
26
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
22
1
18
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
85%
5%
69%
Percentage of beach
days affected by
notification actions
42%
<1%
38%
Figure 4: Percent of monitored beaches potentially impacted by pollution sources (26 beaches).
0
Pollution sources not investigated
Agricultural runoff
Boat discharge
Cone, animal feeding operation
Publicly-owned treatment works
Non-storm related runoff
Septic system leakage
Sewer line leak or break
Sanitary/Combined sewer overflow
Storm-related runoff
Wildlife
Other and/or unidentified sources
No known pollution sources
Percent of beaches
1 0 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 1 00
Note: a single beach may
have multiple sources.
100
Beach days
with an action:
1,722 (38%) J Beach days
/ with no action
W	2,853
\ W	(62%)
Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.

-------