The California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year 2009-10

PLAN AND ASSESS: COASTAL BEACHES

MEASUREMENTS

WHAT THE MEASURE IS SHOWING

California has 427 coastal beaches with a total extension of 631 miles distributed across six hydrologic regions. These beaches provide a total of 153,989 beach mile days of use a year. The data show that the average beach size in R8 is much larger than for the rest of the regions.

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 use them annually to swim, wade, surf, and dive. Beach visitors spend over $10 billion each year in California.   This measure shows the distribution of beach miles that must be protected from potential sources of pollutants.

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 Number of beaches:  The count of beaches as determined in the Beach Watch database. Beach length:  The sum of the length of every coastal beach.  Swim season:  April 1 through October 31. Number of potential beach days: the sum of all days a beach could be open in a regular calendar year. Number of potential beach mile days: The result of multiplying the length of each beach by the number of potential beach days.
• 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

( Updated 9/20/11 )