The California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year 2008-09

PLAN AND ASSESS: COASTAL BEACHES

MEASUREMENTS

WHY THIS MEASURE IS IMPORTANT

California has some of the most popular beaches in the country. Over 150 million day visits are generated by tourists and residents to swim, wade, surf, and dive. Beach visitors spend over $10 billion each year in California. The vast majority of the time, California beaches are open and available for recreation. Unfortunately, there are times when it is not advisable to go in the coastal waters due to bacterial contamination. Postings are advisories to not contact the water because monitoring shows elevated bacterial levels. Closures are water contact prohibitions due to sewage spills.   This measure represents the availability of California’s beaches.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Data source: Beach Watch Database.  Period: July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009. Extracted in June  2009.
• Unit of Measure: Number of beaches (number), beach length (in miles), swim season number of potential beach days (days), swim season number of potential beach mile days (beach mile days).
• Data Definitions Postings:  advisories to not contact the water because monitoring shows elevated bacterial levels . Closures: Closures are water contact prohibitions due to sewage spills.
• References: More information on the Beach program is available at: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/beaches/
• Public reports and data are available at BEACH WATCH database: http://beachwatch.waterboards.ca.gov/BeachWatch/index.jsp

GLOSSARY

Posting and Closures

Local health agencies are responsible for issuing advisories (postings) and closures. An advisory is issued when the results of testing indicate that one or more bacterial levels exceed the Ocean Water Contact Sport Standards issued by the California Department of Health Services (HS Code 115875-115915). Posted advisories usually are placed as signs at the beach and often along access points to the beach saying that swimming may cause illness. Beach closures are the result of sewage spills that will or have the potential to reach coastal waters. Closures are issued immediately upon notification by the agency responsible for the spill and closure signs are posted along the beach. For beach closures, the water remains off limits for wading, swimming and surfing until bacterial standards are met. Information about current posting (advisory) and closure events are also available for most counties on their web sites and telephone hotlines (County Contact links page)

( Updated 9/20/11 )