/g\ EPA's BEACH Report: V4 , 0 / Ohio 2010 Swimming Season May 2011 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 Ohio for the 2010 swimming season. Figure 1. Ohio coastal counties. Ashtab Cuyahoga Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and unmonitored coastal beaches by county for 2010. Total Not County Beaches Monitored Monitored ASHTABULA 4 4 0 CUYAHOGA 19 19 0 ERIE 25 25 0 LAKE 3 3 0 LORAIN 2 2 0 LUCAS 2 2 0 OTTAWA 7 7 0 TOTALS 62 62 0 ------- 2010 Summary Results How many notification actions were reported and how long were they? When water quality standards are exceeded at a particular beach, Ohio issues a beach advisory that warns people to avoid contact with the water. A total of 60 monitored beaches had at least one advisory issued during the 2010 swimming season. Figure 2 presents a full breakdown of notification action durations. What percentage of days were beaches under a notification action? For Ohio's 2010 swimming season, actions were reported about 18 percent of the time (Figure 3). How do 2010 results compare to previous years? Table 2 compares 2010 notification action data with monitored beach data from previous years. What pollution sources possibly affect investigated monitored beaches? Possible pollution sources were not investigated at Ohio beaches in 2010. For More Information For general information about beaches: www.epa.gov/beaches/ For information about beaches in Ohio: www.odh.ohio.gov. (614) 466-1390, or l-(866) OHIO BCH Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration. 200- „ 140- O 120- 100- 137 | 18 3-7 8-30 >30 Duration of Actions (days) Figure 3: Beach days with and without notification actions. Beach days with an action: 1,318 (17.7%) Beach days with no action 6,122 (82.3%) Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2008-2010. 2008 2009 2010 Number of monitored beaches 46 62 62 Number of beaches affected by notification actions 41 55 60 Percentage of beaches affected by notification actions 89% 89% 97% Percentage of beach days affected by notification actions 17% 17% 18% ------- |