Photo Credit: destination360.com

Beaches are an important component of the Rhode Island economy.

Photo Credit: RI Department of Health

Beach closures are linked to rainfall. When it rains, stormwater can carry contaminants, such as bacteria, to beaches, forcing beach closures.

Photo Credit (top photos): RI Department of Health
Photo Credit (bottom photo): Jacobs Associates

Good management and improved infrastructure can lead to fewer beach closures. The bottom photograph shows the Narragansett Bay Commission’s Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Project.

Beach Closures

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Volunteer Beach Monitoring:

Data Source:

Poster:

The Rhode Island Department of Health is responsible for the Beach Water Quality Monitoring Program.

Saltwater beaches are sampled regularly for the bacteria Enterococci, an indicator of the presence of disease-causing organisms. The RI standard for Enterococci is 104 per 100ml of saltwater. Any sample that is above the state standard is considered unsafe for swimming. Once a beach violates state criteria, referred to here as a closure event, it remains closed until new samples indicate that conditions have improved. Although a beach closure event is prompted by a violation of the state standard, the number of days a beach remains closed is dependent on not only water quality, but also on the availability of other resources. The data presented here was collected at regularly monitored saltwater beaches in Rhode Island between Memorial Day and Labor Day. There are no saltwater beaches in the Massachusetts portion of the Narragansett Bay watershed. Closure events are strongly influenced by the duration and intensity of precipitation events.

Bay and Ocean Beaches: 2011 Assessment

Status and Trends: Our beaches are improving, but we still have beaches with water quality problems. Most of our beaches closures (80%) occur at only a few of the state’s licensed beaches (10%). This means Rhode Island has over 100 licensed facilities that are open daily during the summer and are not affected by bacterial contamination.

Management: We are doing a good job monitoring our beaches and we are progressively addressing storm water and sewer connections. Continued investment in monitoring allows us to find and eliminate the sources of contamination. Additional source identification and remediation will result in more open beach days for the public and the capacity to accommodate our important tourism population.

Enterococci are bacteria that come from the intestines of all warm-blooded animals. When sewage is present in the water, enterococci will also be present. In addition to enterococci, many other water-borne pathogens may also be present in untreated sewage. Sources of bacteria include discharges of raw sewage from combined sewer overflows (CSOs), failing septic systems, cess pools, and wild and domestic animals. These pathogens can cause a wide range of health problems including ear, nose, and throat problems, gastroenteritis, dysentery, hepatitis, and respiratory illness. Because there are so many other potential pathogens and testing for all of them is not feasible, enterococci is used as an indicator of the potential presence of these pathogens. Enterococci is a better indicator of the risk of illness than fecal coliform, which has been used in the past.

Rhode Islanders cherish their personal relationship with the shore, and beach visitors from near and far are an important part of the region’s tourism economy. Beach closures hurt our quality of life and affect tourism. Closures are closely linked to rainfall as stormwater runoff is a significant source of bacteria to many beaches.

Since 2001 Rhode Island beaches have received over 2 million dollars in federal money driving over 10 million dollars in remediation by the cities, towns, and private beach owners. This does not include the extraordinary contributions and work of the Providence CSO Tunnel Project by our state and residents.

The work to improve water quality at Rhode Island beaches has resulted in a 36% decrease in beach closures since 2006. This is wonderful progress, but our goal of permanently eliminating beach closures is still years away. Wastewater, stormwater, and nutrients continue to plague our shores.

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Beach closure events in 2006 and 2010 for specific beaches.


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This graph shows the decrease in beach closure events between 2006 and 2010, years with similar precipitation.



Workshop Documents (in Adobe Acrobat format)

October 27, 2011 Meeting Documents

October 12, 2010 Workshop Documents

 

Please send comments, suggestions or questions to Meg Kerr megkerr@nbep.org or Q Kellogg qkellogg@uri.edu