Great Lakes Beach Monitoring Program

The Federal Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act was passed in October of 2000, requiring States that border coastal or Great Lakes waters to develop beach monitoring and public notification programs. Under the BEACH Act, the U.S.EPA provides grants to States that have beaches bordering these coastal waters for the purpose of developing and implementing the monitoring and public notification programs.

Wisconsin was one of the first states to conduct a statewide beach monitoring program in 2003 and is held as a model for the BEACH Act program for other states. The beach monitoring effort is directed at the Great Lakes coastal waters, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. View 2006 beaches to monitor. Funds are equitably distributed to coastal health departments to conduct the water sampling, analyses, and data entry. See also "Cladaphora".

Approximately 55 miles of public beach and a total of 192 coastal beaches were identified along the Lake Michigan and Superior. The definition of "beach" for the purpose of Wisconsin BEACH Act implementation is:

"A publicly owned shoreline or land area, not contained in a man-made structure, located on the shore of Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, that is used for swimming, recreational bathing or other water contact recreational activity."

Wisconsin's Beach Monitoring Program was developed to reduce the risk of exposure of beach users to disease-causing microorganisms in water. Selected beaches along the Great Lakes are monitored in accordance with BEACH Act requirements.

Beaches are ranked and classified as "high," "medium" or "low" priority dependent on the following factors: beach usage, the potential for impacts from storm water runoff, bather and waterfowl loads, and the location of outfalls and farms. The priority of the beach determines how often a beach is sampled per week; high priority beaches are sampled 4 times/week, medium priority beaches 2 times/week, and low priority beaches once a week. Prompt notification is provided to the public whenever bacterial levels exceed EPA's established standards. An advisory is posted if E.coli levels exceed 235 CFU/100mL and a closure is posted if E.coli levels exceed 1000 CFU/100mL.

Notification methods for the program include: signs posted at the beaches, a Beach Hotline (discontinued in 2006 due to lack of funding), the Beach Health Website (www.wibeaches.us) and an informational "Before you go to the beach" brochure. The website and data management is contracted through the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Wisconsin's beach season is approximately 14 weeks from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend. Summer 2006 will mark the fourth season of a successful statewide coastal monitoring program in Wisconsin.

Last Revised: Saturday July 29 2006