Beach water quality: Rehoboth among the superstars
Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches – analyzes government data on beachwater testing results from 2010 at more than 3,000 beach testing locations nationwide. The report confirms that last year, our nation’s beachwater continued to suffer from serious contamination – including oil, and human and animal waste – and a concerted effort to control future pollution is required.
For more than two decades, the Natural Resources Defense Council has been analyzing government data on water quality at the nation's beaches and issuing an annual report.
All too often, pollution from urban runoff is a problem.
Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches looked at 2010 data for 3,000 beach locations nationwide. "The report confirms that last year, our nation's beachwater continued to suffer from serious contamination – including oil, and human and animal waste – and a concerted effort to control future pollution is required," an NRDC press release said.
New this year, the council selected four "superstar" beaches with a history of good water quality. They include Rehoboth and Dewey beaches in Delaware.
Alas, there was also a "top ten repeat offenders," with persistent contamination problems. That list included one New Jersey beach -- Beachwood Beach West in Ocean County.
But among all states, New Jersey, with 700 public coastal beaches, ranked second in water quality, the report found. Still, looking at the total beach closing days in the state, 101 days were due to stormwater contamination, seven from sewage spills or leaks and one from an unknown source.
Below is a sampling of findings from the report, which you can read more about by clicking here.
Closing and advisory days at America's beaches spiked to the second-highest level in the 21 years since NRDC began compiling this report at 24,091 days, a 29 percent increase from the previous year. The increase is largely because of heavy rainfall in Hawaii, contamination from unidentified sources in California, and oil washing up in the Gulf of Mexico from the BP disaster.
The large majority of closing and advisory days, 70 percent, were issued because testing revealed indicator bacteria levels in the water that exceeded health standards, indicating the presence of human or animal waste. Stormwater runoff was the primary known source of known pollution nationwide, consistent with past years, indicating the problem has not been sufficiently addressed at the national level. Sewage overflows were also a contributor.
This year's report found that water quality at America's beaches remained largely steady, with 8 percent of beachwater samples nationwide exceeding public health standards in 2010, compared to 7 percent for the previous four years.