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EPA's BEACH Report:
Michigan 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 Michigan for the 2010 swimming
season.
Figure 1. Michigan coastal counties.
Hough
gon
Chippewa
eboygan
quelsl
ena
Eift
Charlevoi
na
Leelanau"
Menomi
Benzi
Maniste
Mason
Oceana
Muskegon
Ottawa
Allegan
Van Bure
Arena
Bay
Tuscola
Maco
Way
Monr6e
Berrien
[I lac
itJCIair
Table 1. Breakdown of monitored and
unmonitored coastal beaches by
county for 2010.
County
Total
Beaches
Monitored
Not
Monitored
ALCONA
7
1
6
ALGER
12
0
12
ALLEGAN
5
4
1
ALPENA
14
5
9
ANTRIM
16
5
11
ARENAC
15
8
7
BARAGA
12
1
11
BAY
6
5
1
BENZIE
8
2
6
BERRIEN
21
14
7
CHARLEVOIX
20
9
11
CHEBOYGAN
13
4
9
CHIPPEWA
26
6
10
DELTA
28
0
28
EMMET
21
11
10
GOGEBIC
7
0
7
GRAND TRAVERSE
32
5
27
HOUGHTON
15
7
8
HURON
24
13
11
IOSCO
13
8
5
KEWEENAW
14
1
13
LEELANAU
39
7
32
LUCE
16
0
16
MACKINAC
34
2
32
MACOMB
4
4
0
MANISTEE
10
9
1
MARQUETTE
7
5
2
MASON
10
7
3
MENOMINEE
8
2
6
MONROE
3
3
0
MUSKEGON
13
12
1
OCEANA
8
5
3
ONTONAGON
10
2
8
OTTAWA
11
9
2
PRESQUE ISLE
22
3
19
SANILAC
12
5
7
SCHOOLCRAFT
9
2
7
ST, CLAIR
15
15
0
TUSCOLA
1
0
1
VAN BUREN
4
4
0
WAYNE
3
2
1
TOTALS
568
207
361

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2010 Summary Results
How many notification actions were reported
and how long were they?
When water quality standards are exceeded at a
particular beach, Michigan issues a beach advisory
that warns people to avoid contact with the water.
A total of 59 monitored beaches had at least one
advisory issued during the 2010 swimming season.
About 67 percent of Michigan's 105 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 2010 swimming season, actions were
reported about three 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?
Pollution sources were not investigated in 2010.
Figure 2: Beach notification actions by duration.
501
1	2	3-7	8-30
Duration of Actions (Days)
>30
Figure 3:
For More Information
For general information about beaches:
www.epa.gov/beaches/
For information about beaches in Michigan:
www.deq.state.mi.us/beach/
Table 2. Beach notification actions, 2008-2010.

2008
2009
2010
Number of monitored
beaches
212
220
207
Number of beaches
affected by notification
actions
27
41
59
Percentage of beaches
affected by notification
actions
13%
19%
28%
Percentage of beach days
affected by notification
actions
2%
3%
3%
Beach days
with no action
_ 18,521
(96.8%)
Beach days with
and without
notification
actions.
Beach days
with an action:
621
(3.2%)

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