[an error occurred while processing this directive]

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

PLAN AND ASSESS: COASTAL BEACHES

GROUP:

BEACH AVAILABILITY

MEASURE:

NUMBER OF BEACH CLOSURES
NUMBER OF BEACH POSTINGS

MESSAGE:

Beaches are available for swimming 99% of the time.

*KEY STATISTICS FOR FY 2008-09*
Number of Beach Closures	44
Number of Beach Postings	579

MEASUREMENTS

WHAT THE MEASURE IS SHOWING

During FY 08-09, there were 44 beach closure events in California and there were 579 postings of water quality problems. Despite this, California coastal beaches were available 99% of the potential beach mile days and 96% of the swim days.

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 12/6/10 )