Beach Health Indicators
Surf Zone Water Quality
Surf zone water quality affects the health of people who use beaches and
the organisms living in the ocean. Swimming safely in the ocean and viewing
wildlife like fish, dolphins, and sea lions are important components of the
beach experience. Thus, surf zone water quality is a critical measure of
the health of our beaches. Scientific research indicates that swimming in
water with high bacteria levels can increase the swimmer's risk of experiencing
adverse health conditions like fever, nausea, gastroenteritis, nasal congestion,
sore throat, and cough.1 Beyond bacteria, other common pollutants found in
the surf zone are heavy metals such as lead and arsenic, organic chemicals
such as pesticides and oil, other pathogens such as viruses, and nutrients
that can create harmful algal blooms.2 Polluted water affects both the mating
and feeding habits of wildlife.
Water pollution that affects our beaches comes from many sources, some close
to the ocean and some very far away. Due to gravity, all water flows downhill
through a watershed and picks up pollutants from the land along the way.
A watershed, also called a drainage basin, is the area in which all water,
sediments, and dissolved materials flow or drain from the land into a common
river, lake, ocean, or other body of water.
Types of water pollution
This description illustrates the two types of water pollution: non-point
source pollution and point source pollution.
Non-point source pollution — refers to the pollutants acquired as water flows across land toward sea level
Point source pollution — refers to pollutants discharged directly into water from discrete points like pipes (e.g. sewage outfalls).
Because of the federal Clean Water Act's years of effective regulation, point source pollution is
no longer typically the main source of water pollution. EPA's 1994 Water
Quality Inventory identified non-point source pollution as America's largest
water quality problem and stated that non-point sources were the leading
contributors to water pollution in rivers and estuaries, which both flow
into the ocean.3
Non-point source pollution
Non-point source pollution is pollution from runoff. Local land uses and
the land that water flows over determine the pollutants that will be carried
into the ocean, so land use ultimately determines the types of pollutants
in a watershed. Land use in the coastal zone can be classified under three
main types: urban, agriculture, and forestry.
Urban runoff
Urban runoff refers to water flowing from urban areas during both dry weather and periods of rain. As
water flows over urban areas it picks up oil leaked from cars, heavy metals
from roads, pesticides and fertilizers from lawns and gardens, litter and
debris from paved surfaces, and bacteria and nutrients from animal feces.
This water can flow either directly into local waterways or, more often,
into stormwater systems that usually go directly into the ocean with no treatment.
Agricultural runoff
Agricultural runoff contains pollutants from pesticides and fertilizers used
on crops, silt from eroded soil, and bacteria from animal feces.
Forestry runoff
Forestry runoff generally contains high amounts of silt from eroding soils. Each of
these sources impacts coastal water in a different manner.
Because non-point source pollution comes from so many diverse sources, confronting this type
of water pollution is a complex and difficult issue.4 In areas with combined
sewers - stormwater drains that are physically connected to the sewer system
- large volumes of rain water may inundate the system so much that raw sewage
is dumped directly into waterways. This condition is termed a Combined Sewer
Overflow (CSO).
Point source pollution
The two main types of point source pollution that impact coastal water are
sewage outfalls and industrial discharges. Sewage outfalls are pipes that
discharge treated sewage offshore. Industrial discharges are wastewater from
factories and power plants released into waterways, usually through pipes.
The Clean Water Act requires both of these sources to obtain permits, which
place restrictions on the amounts of pollutants that can flow into waterways.
This report looks at the following areas to determine the status of each
state's surf zone water quality: water quality monitoring programs, beach
closures, information on the number of and location of storm drains, and
information on the location, discharge volume, and treatment level at sewage
treatment plants.
Water Quality Monitoring Programs
Monitoring programs are an important component of improving water quality
by helping to protect public health and increase public awareness about water
quality problems. In addition, because any water quality solutions require
knowing where water quality problems exist, these programs are a first step
towards improving water quality. The report first looks at whether programs
exist, and if they do, what level of government conducts the testing. It
also examines the frequency of testing and the standards used.
Beach Closures
This report includes data that tracks each state's number of beach closures
over the past several years. The beach closure data is only a rough measure
of each state's water quality, because the number of beach closures depends
on several factors besides water quality and data are not necessarily comparable
between states or even within states. In addition to water quality, the number
of beach closures depends on the stringency of the testing program (or if
a program exists), the length of the state's coastline, the number of accessible
beaches, and other factors such as the amount of annual rainfall. States
with a high number of beach closures do not necessarily have poorer water
quality than states with fewer beach closures. Furthermore, the standards
used to close beaches and the pollution-testing methods used vary by state
and within states, so no consistent standard exists to compare water quality
using the number of beach closures in different areas.
While the beach closure data is only an indirect indicator of water quality,
patterns in the data can reveal chronic pollution problem areas.
Storm Drain Information
Information about the location and status of storm drains is important in
improving surf zone water quality because storm drains are the main sources
of urban runoff flowing into the ocean. Urban runoff flows into storm drains
and either directly into the ocean or into nearby waterways that eventually
flow into the ocean. Most importantly, this runoff rarely receives treatment
and contains pollutants that have been picked up by the water as it runs
through urban areas. Surfrider looked at available information on the location
of storm drains at the state level. With this information, water quality
agencies can target sources of urban runoff and efficiently improve surf
zone water quality. A considerable amount of storm drain information resides
at the local level, so the research for this report may not have found information
when it actually does exist. The report indicates when Surfrider found that
information is available at the local level.
Sewage Outfall Information
Due to strict permitting for point sources of pollution, the relative proportion
of pollutants from sewage outfalls that affect surf zone water quality has
decreased over the past two decades. Nevertheless, the location of outfalls
and the pollutants emanating from them is important information that the
public should know. This report looks at the public availability of this
information.
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